TOKYO — A Canadian received an unexpected Mother's Day gift when she went into labor and gave birth aboard a trans-Pacific flight on Sunday.
The jet was traveling from Calgary, Alberta, to Tokyo Narita International Airport when about an hour before landing the passenger entered labor, according to a spokesman for Air Canada.
The 23-year-old old — whose name has not been released — was immediately moved to business class, where she gave birth to a healthy baby girl with the help of a doctor on board.
Air Canada Flight 9 landed 30 minutes ahead of schedule to enable the mother and baby to get to a hospital as soon as possible, authorities said. Both the mother and baby were said to be in good health.
Japanese TV station Fuji Network captured the flight's arrival, showing the smiling father disembarking from the plane holding the newborn next to a woman on a stretcher.
It was not disclosed how many weeks pregnant the woman was. Air Canada allows women with no previous history of premature labor to fly through the 36th week.