A woman in labor caused American Airlines flight AA787 from Paris to Charlotte to make a u-turn over the Atlantic and land in Dublin.
Apparently the woman’s contractions were two minutes apart when the aircraft landed so presumably very close to giving birth. Fortunately there was a doctor on board.
The aircraft appears to have been on the ground for about 3 hours and should arrive in Charlotte four hours late.
It was only a couple of weeks ago, of course, that a woman give birth on a China Airlines flight to Los Angeles. As well this month a woman gave birth to a baby onboard a Jazeera Airways flight. That child will receive free flights on the airline until age 18.
In May a woman who didn’t know she was pregnant gave birth on an Air Canada flight to Tokyo. That was reportedly the third inflight birth of 2015.
This seems to happen often enough that Airbus A380 operators might consider taking the ‘dead space’ in the forward portion of the upper deck of the aircraft and turning it into a maternity ward.
Qantas A380 Upper Deck ‘Lounge’ Area
In this case the plane managed to get on the ground before the woman gave birth. Talk about the luck of the Irish!
(HT: @geirfl)
Why do airlines allow pregnant women past 7 months to fly?
Think how much that cost the airline
Irresponsible of the airline to let the woman on the plane. And of course the woman as well. This happens far too often including my own flights. You sit in 1st class sipping on Krug and then there’s this annoying call for a doctor. How dare they!
@am. I agree. What does it cost other px put out to miss important connections, meetings, rehearsals etc etc etc.
I don’t know what week this woman’s pregnancy was at and I’d understand if the baby was very very premature but allowing moms to be to board after their 7th month is costly and very inconvenient
Some comments are too just much, first off some women who are 7 months pregnant don’t look it, so how is the airline to know if a women in pregnant? Also are the GA’s suppose to ask women who “looks’ pregnant are you pregnant or are they suppose to to ask all women if they are pregnant?
Responsibility and consideration of others must be the golden rule of a civilized society. The majority of people in this country have the ” me first me now” mentality. Parents of young children younger than three should not subject other people to their children’s naughty behavior or their preference or convenience: in the restaurant, on the plane or in any other public places. They can transport their young families anywhere anytime in the comfort of their vehicles. When we pay for our seats on the plane or in the restaurant, we are entitled to peace and tranquility. I am talking about the norm, not the exception when adults can misbehave worse than children. I do things because I feel comfortable , not because it is lawful. Companies won’t infringe on people’s right for fear of discrimination lawsuit. They instead subject their paying customers to such aggravation.
hmmm, globtrotter, none of my vehicles are capable of going from MN to my house in Umbria, IT
I could put money on the lady being a Chinese birth tourist
Sorry lady, no anchor baby for you.
There is no way that a woman was pregnancy has progressed to the point where The fetus is sufficiently mature to be born alive could not know that she was pregnant. Women who are seven months or more pregnant should not be flying, if only out of due concern for the safety of their unborn baby and the rights of other passengers.
I don’t like moms flying to “anchor” their babies but who are we to decide how many months before a pregnant woman could fly? I had all 3 of my children born at full term and most women do, so should we be disbarred from flying to see families during Thanksgiving because some of the commenters here do not give birth or have the organs to give birth :). So, should we start policing people with medical condition that they should not fly lest they might cause the plane to turn around – so that the so called self righteous healthy ones who paid for their seats are entitled to their tranquility. Then we should start measuring people’s blood pressure and see if they should fly. Let’s hope you never got sick on the plane and you never end up with pregnant wives that need to fly to visit loved ones or sick family members. Besides those anchor moms, many of us who are so pregnant would love to stay home and rest rather than sit in a tight economy seat for the fun of turning a plane around – unless we have aging parents we would want to see before we would never have the chance anymore.
Globetrotter – You are not entitled to peace and tranquility because you bought a plane ticket, and you don’t get to decide who can travel and how they are allowed to travel – the fact that you actually think you get to make the rules are tells me that you probably have a lot in common with the overly entitled, arrogant and self absorbed adults who disrupted my peace and tranquility on flights this week. That’s the price of going out in public, get used to it or buy your own plane.
While you guys start with why airlines let pregnant women on board, I say you guys are quite right. But I’d provoke that pregnant women, should have better social responsibility when considering public transportation. Airlines would but their ass whether they do or do not let such sensitive groups on board. If yes, they gets kicked by the rest passengers, because they are “selfish” and by the amount of people, it becomes the right thing, instead of selfish. If no, airlines gets criticized by a sensitive groups, such as humanity groups or pregnant women, saying they are discriminative… So either way, it’s an inconvenience to other group while the airlines always gets criticized.
I’d say, as a member of a civilized society, think and behave more responsibly. Every individual of use, including you, yes, you reader, when starting bullshitting something, or thinking of taking advantage of something, consider possible results and consequences you’d do to others. Be modest and caring.
Airlines can set up more “rules” one after another incidents, but eventually, it’s the proof that our society is going backward, living by enforced rules and policies, instead of virtue and moral standards from inside.
@Kerensa Yes you should be disbarred from seeing family and loved oned if you are 9 months pregnant. You can travel a few months earlier or wait a few months later after the birth. There was a time when airplanes didn’t exist and people managed to get along fine.
You guys are ridiculous! You shouldn’t comment on things you know absolutely NOTHING about. The girl was only 25 weeks. Instead of putting people down and criticizing maybe you should try praying for the baby that is clinging to life and for the parents that are suffering right now.
I continue to be amazed at the ever-increasing number of aged and infirm pax, and also the high number of families traveling with very young infants. I’ve been flying regularly for 30 years and never have I seen it as much as now.