Woman Gives Birth To Baby Girl On Air Canada Flight From Calgary To Tokyo

A Canadian woman gave birth to a baby girl on board an Air Canada plane to Tokyo on Monday, with the help of a doctor who was present among the passengers. The plane, which was traveling from Calgary in Alberta, Canada, was given priority to land in Narita in the eastern part of Japan, about 44 miles from Tokyo.

The plane landed 30 minutes before the scheduled time after air traffic controllers bumped the plane up the queue due to the unexpected situation on board. The 23-year-old woman and her baby, who was born over the Pacific Ocean, were doing well, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported, citing the Air Canada spokesman. They were taken to a nearby hospital where they reportedly spent the night.

"I couldn't imagine. This happened completely unexpectedly," the baby’s father, whose name was not revealed, told local news networks, according to AFP, adding: "It turned out to be a beautiful baby girl."

Local networks showed the mother emerging from the plane in a wheelchair while other passengers and crew waved and smiled as they got off the plane.

"Everyone was clapping their hands," a woman passenger told local television, according to AFP, adding: "She's such a cute baby with big eyes."

It was not clear how far into pregnancy the woman was when she boarded the plane. The airline allows women with normal pregnancy to travel on their flights until the 36th week.

In March, a Qatar Airways' flight from Miami to Doha was forced to make an emergency landing in Canada after a woman went into an unexpected labor and delivered a baby boy, a few hours after the plane took off, AFP reported. In January, a Jordanian woman aboard a Royal Jordanian Airlines' flight from Amman to New York gave birth to a girl mid-flight over the Atlantic.