Woman Gives Birth To Baby Girl Aboard Royal Jordanian Flight 261 To New York

A 33-year-old woman has given birth to a baby girl aboard a flight from Amman to New York, reports My Fox Twin Cities. The woman who has been identified as Vera Jaber happens to be a Jordanian citizen. She was onboard Royal Jordanian Flight 261 which took off from Amman, Jordan, at around 1 p.m. local time. The woman went into labor a few hours before the plane was to land at New York’s John F. Kennedy international airport, confirms Mashable.

According to reports, Vera Jaber gave birth to the 6-pound, 5-ounce girl at about 5 p.m. E.S.T. The aircraft was flying 35,000 feet above the Atlantic when the baby was born. After the woman went into labor, the pilots made an announcement asking for any doctors or nurses on board to assist the woman. Luckily, a doctor and a nurse happened to be on the plane and they were able to safely deliver the child.

The plane eventually landed safely at John F. Kennedy International at about 7:30 p.m.

The fact a doctor and a nurse were aboard the flight has been confirmed by Joe Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. After the plane landed, both mother and child were rushed to the Jamaica Hospital in Queens, where their condition is said to be satisfactory.

Vera Jaber is a native of Amman, Jordan, and she was traveling alone to New York. It is unclear as to how officials allowed her on the flight at such an advanced stage in her pregnancy. Usually, airlines do not allow passengers who are in their advanced stages of pregnancy fearing situations like these. Many airlines in the United States allow women who are in their 36th week of pregnancy to board their planes.

That said, there have been several instances in the past where women have given birth aboard commercial flights. In fact, the Inquisitr had reported about a similar incident that happened a few weeks ago, aboard a Southwest Airlines Flight on the way from San Francisco to Phoenix, Arizona. Prior to that, there was also a report about a woman giving birth to twins aboard an aircraft in Russia.

[Image Via Wikimedia Commons]