An
Arik Air flight with over 100 passengers en route to London Sunday was
forced to make an emergency landing in Palmas, Spain, as a woman went
into labour and gave birth while the aircraft was airborne.
The
pilot was said to have requested the emergency landing on the advice of
two doctors who were on board the aircraft and had helped the mother
deliver the baby. After the birth of the child, the mother, whose
identity has so far been withheld, was said to have experienced
excessive hemorrhaging, necessitating the emergency landing.
Both mother
and child were said to have been stable but were left behind in Palmas
for monitoring by medical personnel, while the flight continued on its
journey to London.
The
airline was trying to ascertain if the woman had presented a false
medical report from her doctor on the true duration of her pregnancy or
she had gone into premature labour while on board the flight.
Women
with full term pregnancies are not allowed to travel by air, according
to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations. As
such, intending pregnant passengers are required to present medical
reports certifying that they are less than 32 weeks pregnant before they
are allowed to fly.
A
source said the airline was carrying out a full-scale investigation to
ascertain the genuineness of the medical report presented by the woman.
Arik Air’s management said yesterday that if it is discovered that the
woman was given a false report to enable her fly, it would file a
special complaint against the doctor who had issued the medical report
to the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) for endangering her life and
that of the baby, as well that of other passengers on board the flight.
