A woman gave birth to a baby on board a flight to Rome after going into labour early, 34,000 feet above the ground.
The crew and passengers on board ITA Airways flight AZ855 jumped into action when a passenger began to give birth.
The Airbus A321 jet was travelling from Dakar, Senegal, to Italy’s capital Rome on Wednesday when things took a surprising turn.
An hour after take off, the alarm was raised that the seven-month pregnant woman was about to deliver her baby.
She appears to have been moved to a more private section of the plane away from other passengers while the crew called for any medical professionals to step forward.
Luckily for the mum and baby, a doctor and a nurse were on board.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
ITA Airways posted about the once-in-a-lifetime event on social media, saying this is the first baby born on the carrier’s aircraft ever.
The airline said in a caption posted in Italian: ‘A pleasant and unexpected event made ITA Airways’ day.
‘On flight AZ855 that departed from Dakar last night and headed to Rome Fiumicino, an hour after take-off a seven-month pregnant woman gave birth to a baby prematurely.
‘The mother and the baby received immediate assistance from the crew, who demonstrated great professionalism, and two passengers, a doctor and a nurse, to whom the company deserves the most sincere thanks.
‘The baby, in perfect health, is the first baby born on board an aircraft in ITA Airways history, wishing the baby a wonderful life full of joy.’
It appears the plane was travelling between Western Sahara and Mauritania when pilots made a sharp U-turn, according to the plane tracking website Flightradar24.
The plane touched down back in Dakar Blaise Diagne International Airport at about 2.30am local time.
The same Airbus plane appears to have taken off from Dakar again shortly before 4am, arriving at Rome Fiumicino airport just before 9am.
Last month, a woman gave birth on a flight to John F Kennedy Airport in the US.
It sparked a debate about the infant’s nationality as the US has traditionally recognised birthright for babies born in American airspace or soil.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.