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Bulgarian Baby Born On Board Lufthansa Flight

Friday, Jul 28, 2017

Little Nikolay came to this world at 39,000 feet, or about 11,800 meters, in the sky high above the Atlantic Ocean, the Lufthansa press office said.

On July 26th Lufthansa flight LH543 from Bogota to Frankfurt was quite special for the passengers and the cabin crew alike.

At 10:37 UTC, a 38-year-old Bulgarian woman by the name of Desislava gave birth to a healthy boy while flying above the Atlantic. Both the mother and her baby are OK now.

The aircraft Airbus A340-300 D-AIFC (named "Gander/Halifax") took off from Bogota at 21:00 local time with 191 passengers and 13-member crew onboard.

At some time during the flight, Desislava felt her baby was coming. The crew quickly re-seated some passengers in the front rows and made an improvised delivery room at the back of the plane.

The cabin crew and three medical doctors, who were onboard, assisted the mother during her labor and the little Nikolay came to this world healthy and happy.

The mother, Desislava, thanked the cabin crew and the three doctors for helping her in this critical moment and named her boy, Nikolay.

In order to give the mother and her newborn postnatal care as soon as possible, the flight captain decided to land at the Manchester Airport and then to continue to Frankfurt.

The airbus landed in Manchester at 13:09 local time with 192 passengers onboard and the mother and her baby were immediately transferred to an ambulance.

The aircraft then continued its way to Frankfurt and landed at 17:28 local time.

"I've never experienced anything like that in my 37 years of professional experience.

"The entire crew did an extraordinary job.

"This was great teamwork, with everyone doing their part," said Kurt Mayer, the captain of flight LH543.

"After landing, I immediately went to the mother and the new-born child to welcome him to the world.

"Aside from the birth of my own son, this was the most moving moment of my life," said Mayer.

Births on board are quite rare.

This has been the eleventh birth on a Lufthansa flight since 1965.

Source: standartnews.com