Kenya Airways lands an extra passenger

BY CORRESPONDENT
Updated : 8 hours and 6 minutes ago

Baby Zahra seen here with her mother and flight attendant Anthony Kuria


NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 26 - A Kenya Airways in-flight crew delivered a baby girl on board a flight that had just landed from Muscat, Oman in Nairobi late last week. Officials said that the mother and baby were "doing fine".

A well-trained Kenya Airways in-flight crew composed of Flight Purser Josephine Towett, flight attendants Oscar Heho, Mitchell Ongeso, Anthony Kuria and Muriithi, Captain Hamdan and first officer Muiruri were cheered by passengers after they successfully midwifed the delivery.

The crew lay the woman in the aisle in economy class while others held up a blanket to create a makeshift delivery room. Flight attendants were assisted by a KQ Nurse Juliana Maithya.

Speaking at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Kenya Airways Chief Operating Officer Bram Stellar confirmed that the baby had been successfully delivered while the aircraft was on the ground at the Airport. The Captain and First Officer waited for the baby to be born before disembarking.

It was the first time that such an event occurred for the crew. Wrapped in a passenger's blanket, the four-kilogram baby was held by a crew member.

"It was already a packed flight from Muscat to Nairobi but passengers and crew were more than happy to make room for one extra person when the lady gave birth to a baby girl, whom we promptly named Zahra," he explained.

The crew laid the woman across a row of seats in economy class while others held up a blanket to create a makeshift delivery room. "Within 15 minutes the baby had been born. We are happy that the birth was normal and the mother and baby are fine," he concluded.