An Arik Air flight with over 100 passengers en route
to London Sunday was forced to make an
emergency landing in Palmas, Spain, as a woman
went into labour and gave birth while the aircraft
was airborne.The pilot was said to have requested
the emergency landing on the advice of two doctors
who were on board the aircraft and had helped the
mother deliver the baby.
When the passenger went into labour, the cabin
crew asked that doctors on board the flight to
identify themselves. Following the announcement,
two of the passengers came forward, saying they
were doctors and assisted in the delivery of the
baby.
Normally, a source disclosed that in the few
instances where women have given birth on board,
the aircraft would continue its flight to its final
destination. However, the Arik flight was forced to
make an emergency landing following the advice of
the doctors that the woman was bleeding excessively
- she was said to have experienced excessive
hemorrhaging, necessitating the emergency landing.
At the time of this report, both mother and child
were said to have been stable but were left behind in
Palmas for monitoring by medical personnel, while
the flight continued on its journey to London.
The airline was trying to ascertain if the woman
had presented a false medical report from her
doctor on the true duration of her pregnancy or she
had gone into premature labour while on board the
flight.
Women with full term pregnancies are not allowed
to travel by air, according to International Civil
Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations. As such,
intending pregnant passengers are required to
present medical reports certifying that they are less
than 32 weeks pregnant before they are allowed to
fly.
A source said the airline was carrying out a full-
scale investigation to ascertain the genuineness of
the medical report presented by the woman.
Arik Air’s management said yesterday that if it is
discovered that the woman was given a false report
to enable her fly, it would file a special complaint
against the doctor who had issued the medical report
to the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) for
endangering her life and that of the baby, as well
that of other passengers on board the flight.
Source: Thisday
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