[viXit]

Amazing news this morning,
Couldn't wait to come share it with the team!





Went downstairs for a workout with my dad and after it was done he opened his whatsapp pilots' group and got to know about a baby born aboard the flight a day before air force day!! at 1810hrs.

Here is the Captain's account from yesterday!

Pilots Account
Baby born on board an Indigo flight Yesterday. Capt was Wg Cdr Mishra (Retd) now flying with Indigo.

Surreal experience to witness a miracle in the air yesterday.

Went through full range of emotions as the situation kept unfolding rapidly .

It started with the lead informing me that the lady on seat 1C, is an expectant mother feeling a little restless...and that she had not eaten anything since morning.

She was comforted and was given fluids and something to eat.

A while later her anxiety and restlessness increased. She also started complaining if stomach pain.

As the situation was developing, I asked the lead to page for a doctor.

By sheer Providence and divine destiny of this would be new born, there were two very accomplished doctors on board.

One of them Dr Nagaraj, is a plastic surgeon who works in King Fahd hospital in Riyadh and the other Dr Shailaja a Gynaecologist and an Obstetrics surgeon, heading the fetal medicine department in Cloud Nine hospital.

We were near Jaipur, cruising at FL 390.

She was initiallydiagnosed with Gastric pain or just Constipation and the doctors felt that she would be fine.

However her discomfort and restlessness kept getting worse. Both doctors were in constant attendance. I spoke to the lady doctor who assured me that she is watching her carefully.

A little later North of Bhopal, came to know that she has started bleeding followed by the shattering news that she has suffered an abortion.

Forward galley and the Lav were swiftly and efficiently converted into a makeshift ward/ labour room taking all precautions by an excellent team of cabin crew who rose to the requirements of the occasion.

They were very brilliantly supported by several Captains and Crew travelling ACM and Dead Head.

I was waiting for one final update from the doctors to decide on my next course of action.

As I was mulling over this disheartening piece of news, heard and noticed sudden increase in the activity levels in the cabin... screaming.. shouting.. clapping and a faint cry of what sounded like a new born...It was a baby boy!!

From a feeling of deep sadness..it turned to a feeling of intense joy...never witnessed fortunes turning so swiftly and so miraculously!!

Don't think there was a single soul on board who didn't have goose bumps on him or her at this moment.

So the youngster was born on Cloud Nine with the help of a doctor from Cloud Nine!!
The baby was premature and there was not much clarity on how many months pregnant she was...could have been anything..she had earlier mentioned 5 months??

My decision making skills were getting tested with rapidly unfolding situations!!

Although the doctors confirmed to me that the mother and child are doing well.. things could again worsen any moment!!

Nagpur was 500m in TS...Indore had a closure..HYD was the best option to divert in case of any new contingency.

At the bottom of my heart, I was hoping and praying that the youngster holds on for another hour and a bit...he did well...much better that expected at his ripe old age of 5mins!

I didn't want her to land up in Hyderabad in this Covid times and with a premature baby..she was travelling alone.

In my addres to the passengers I informed them that "We have an extra passenger on board.."
POB was also revised.. plenty of congratulatory calls on air on Nagpur, Chennai and Bangalore frequencies!

Nagpur gave me direct BL552 for Bangalore 27L from just south of Bhopal....enjoyed the uninterrupted high speed run!

Post landing Birth on Board form was filled...don't think it has ever been filled in a domestic flight in India ever...and it is most appropriately titled FFS 007
On ground amidst all the frenzy, I could sense a genuine sense of happiness and joy amongst all present, KIAL staff, Aster Clinic staff..in all the gloom surrounding us, people were looking for a reason to celebrate and they got one..!!

There were banners, chocolates, gifts...and the brave mother was given a rousing reception!

Met 007! Had a look at his face.. of course he was unaffected by all the commotion around him...by now he was an hour and a half old..

As for me...I couldn't have asked for a happier Air Force Day eve!!

Attaching some pictures received via whatsapp.









Couldn't attach the video, so here's the link to the same on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSkS7N3ABQY

This news literally made my day!! Genuinely SO SO happy for them!!


EDIT: Pilots of the forum, please help decode the various abbrevations and notations.

[Vin76]

Wow! The pilot’s account of the incident is just brilliant. I got goose bumps just reading it. Great story and will cheer anyone up. Thanks for sharing.

[libranof1987]

Quite the event, indeed! Hats off to the crew and the medical stuff, and of course, the mother and baby for getting through it, as well as they could!

This has happened a few times, and brings about its own challenges and fun.

https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-n...671-2020-08-13

https://nypost.com/2017/06/19/baby-b...ghts-for-life/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...irlines-flight

Here's some trivia:

Citizen of the world? Not quite
Once you’re out there in all your gooey glory, what country can you claim as your own? There are three possibilities:

If the airline in question is registered in a country that has signed the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (yes, there is a such a thing), the child will be granted citizenship of that country. Nearly 67 countries have ratified the convention, but not India. And so a baby born on Air India, IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet or any other ‘Indian carrier’, will be subject to different rules.

The next alternative is to grant citizenship of the country whose airspace the baby was delivered in. Most countries, including the US, follow this protocol.

But in the rare event that neither of these options is available, the child will take the nationality of either parent. Bottomline: it’s subjective.

https://www.cntraveller.in/story/exp...born-airplane/

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by viXit

Amazing news this morning,
Couldn't wait to come share it with the team!
...
EDIT: Pilots of the forum, please help decode the various abbrevations and notations.

So here are the notations and abbreviations explained.

Wg Cdr - Wing Commander, a rank in Indian Air Force
FL 390 - Flight Level 390 = 39000 feet, the altitude of the aircraft
Lav - Lavatory
ACM - Additional Crew Member, a flight attendant or pilot flying as a passenger
Dead Head - Dead Heading, a pilot/flight attendant flying as a passenger due to work location and home location being different. So they are either going to work or coming from work.
TS - Thunder Storm, mostly avoided by flights around the world
HYD - Hyderabad airport code (this is the IATA code used for passenger ticketing & marketing, the "official" ICAO code is different)
POB - Passengers on Board
BL552 - A navigation waypoint close to Bangalore, see https://aim-india.aai.aero/eaip/PUB/...PS_2011_76.pdf
27L - Two Seven Left, the runway in Bangalore airport the pilot expected to land on
KIAL - Kempegowda International Airport Limited

[AZT]

News also covered this

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/...117057946.html

[SS80]

Wow!
I am almost in tears. God bless the baby, what an experience for everyone on that flight. Look at the coincidence of having a gynecologist on the same flight. God exists!

Thanks for the share. Goes on my whatsapp status right away.

[harry10]

I was having a shitty day.
This brought a smile.
Thank you for this and God bless the new born baby ❤️

[whencut86]

God bless the baby!!! Pre-Term baby on an airborne flight during Covid times is a big thing indeed.

Only thing which bothers me is the crowd around the baby and all the photo ops with the captain and crew. A pre-term baby is less on immunity compared to a normal baby born full term and should be handled with utmost care. I can appreciate the sense of joy among the crew and captain and ground staff but these things also need to be kept in mind especially with Covid all around. Our aam junta should never lose our sense and sensibilities during these times.

Originally Posted by SS80

Wow!
I am almost in tears. God bless the baby, what an experience for everyone on that flight. Look at the coincidence of having a gynecologist on the same flight. God exists!

Thanks for the share. Goes on my whatsapp status right away.

I experienced many such coincidences when my son was born pre-term 2 years ago. Reaffirming feeling!!!

[am1m]

Wow, what are the odds that there was not one but two doctors aboard and one of them an ObGyn specialist! That too during these covid times of reduced travel. That baby is truly blessed!

[srini1785]

I guess Aakash is the natural name for the boy. All's well that ends well. I wonder what the urgency was to travel unaided during these times.

[shivshanker]

Wow the post invokes mixed feelings for sure and goose bumps.

I do hope the baby has a long and healthy life and also does well in his professional life too.

I would say this is Karma and the Mother's good luck that the Ob Gyn Specialist was on board. The Kiddo came into this world paving his own path and bringing his own luck in form of the Ob Gyn Specialist.

Would be interesting to see how he turns out in real life, which means I have to live for another 30 years.

[landcruiser123]

Wow, this is amazing! Wish the family & their new member a happy & healthy life ahead. Just curious - what is place of birth recorded on the birth certificate?

How does this law change in countries following Jus Soli? (Birthright citizenship)

[Thilak29]

Very nice to read this in these dim days.

Wish both mother and baby all happiness. Lucky kid can fly Indigo free of cost for rest of his life

[adwaith]

Thank you for sharing something so wonderful!

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Just curious - what is place of birth recorded on the birth certificate?

How does this law change in countries following Jus Soli? (Birthright citizenship)

For international flights, the country of registration of the airline is taken as the country of birth.

a baby born on board a flight can take the nationality of the country of registration!

Source

In this case, the parents may have a choice between Delhi and Bangalore, I suppose.