DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: A Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight with 25 pregnant Filipinas on board had a very interesting story to it after one of the expectant moms gave birth to a healthy baby boy while the plane was flying at over 30,000 feet.
Agnes Pagaduan, PAL country manager for the UAE told Daily Bread the chartered PR 659 flight that left Dubai at around 9pm on Friday, June 5 (UAE time), had 294 passengers and had an expected time of arrival (ETA) in Manila at 10am Philippine time.
The Filipina, who was 34 weeks pregnant and whose name Pagaduan did not disclose for privacy reasons, was given the all-clear, fit to travel approval by authorities, the PAL official said.
“May clearance naman sya… fit to travel. Okay naman sya nang mag-check-in. Baka na-excite lang. I got information na nanganak sya on board. Lalaki ang anak,” Pagaduan told Rappler.
“Ang crew namin ang nagpa-anak. Well-trained naman sila,” Pagaduan said.
She the airline has had several such incidents of expectant mothers giving birth while in flight.
Of the 294 passengers, Pagaduan said 25 were expectant mothers.
She said the approximately eight-hour Dubai-Manila flight had to be diverted to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport because of the medical emergency.
The flight reportedly left Bangkok shortly after the woman and her child were disembarked, and arrived in Manila around midday.
Meantime, Pagaduan said PR 659’s passengers were mostly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) returning to the Philippines for good.
“Karamihan sa mga sumakay ay talagang mga ‘for-good’ na… mga nawalan ng trabaho,” Pagaduan said.
She also disclosed that PAL has another chartered flight, Sunday July 7, with 355 passengers on board and of which over 20 are expectant moms.
The Daily Bread 