KARACHI: A passenger gave birth to a baby girl on board a Madina-Multan Pakistan Interna­tional Airlines (PIA) flight on Tuesday.

Kausar Bibi was travelling with her husband Mohammad Imran when she started to feel labour pains during the flight and sought help.

The cabin crew — Nasreen Rind, Aneela and Sanaullah Soomro — assisted the passenger deliver the baby just before the aircraft landed in Karachi. The baby was named Jannat.

The Multan-bound PK-716 flight, with over 140 passengers on board, had left Madina late on Monday night, but was diverted to Karachi due to bad weather in Multan. It landed in Karachi on Tuesday at 5am.

Since the pilot had already informed Karachi airport about the delivery, a medical team was waiting for the family when the plane landed. The doctors, after examining the mother and child, declared that both of them were in good health and fit to travel further.

After a six-hour stopover in Karachi, Kausar Bibi and Moha­mmad Imran, along with other passengers, flew off to Multan on board PK-8330 following improvement in the weather at Multan.

Mashhood Tajwar, the PIA’s spokesperson, told Dawn that usually women 28 weeks pregnant were not allowed to travel by air, but permission was given in special cases on production of a medical certificate.

“The airline staff is unaware about pregnancy at the time passengers check in or board a plane as most women are covered in shawls or chadors,” he said, adding that all cabin crew members were fully trained to handle such emergencies.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2017