Last week the news were about taking-off with more passengers then landing, so today let´s talk about landing with one more extra passenger... well, almost!
This happened this week on a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 flight from Frankfurt (Germany) to Orlando (USA). The mommy passenger, who was in her 28th week of pregnancy, started having contractions while the plane was over the Atlantic Ocean, about 4 hours into the flight. As the situation was getting serious, the captain immediately decided to divert the aircraft. Having a situation like this while flying over the Atlantic can be challenging, but fortunately there was land in sight! - they ended up landing in the Lajes Airbase at the Azores Islands (Portugal). How fun and exciting is that? The German baby being actually borned in an island somewhere in the Atlantic causing a 352 passenger aircraft to divert. That´s certainly a nice story to tell friends when he/she grows up.
Expectant mothers with complication-free pregnancies can travel on Lufthansa flights (and on most other airlines) until the end of the 36th week of pregnancy before their expected due date. Each airline has a different policy but generally after that date, their is also a possibility to fly with a special certification from the airline medical center but is not really advisable. Such as for complicated pregnancies, carrying multiples and premature contractions. Because the threat of thrombosis (blood clots) is increased during pregnancy, moms-to-be should also wear compression stockings and elevating feet during the flight.
And then you should also bare in mind that an action like this can get quite costly for the family, as such diversions are generally not covered by insurance - especially in this case, a premature baby borned on a foreign island that certainly will be trapped on an incubator in that hospital for perhaps 8 weeks or so, a diverted aircraft, the whole bureaucracy to get the baby a passport so they can fly back to Germany and finding an airline that will actually connect them, hence Lajes is more like a charter destination for most airlines. So I think, one has to really think twice before flying and being pregnant. Oh well, all in all it all went well and Azores - what a fantastic place to be borned!
And then you should also bare in mind that an action like this can get quite costly for the family, as such diversions are generally not covered by insurance - especially in this case, a premature baby borned on a foreign island that certainly will be trapped on an incubator in that hospital for perhaps 8 weeks or so, a diverted aircraft, the whole bureaucracy to get the baby a passport so they can fly back to Germany and finding an airline that will actually connect them, hence Lajes is more like a charter destination for most airlines. So I think, one has to really think twice before flying and being pregnant. Oh well, all in all it all went well and Azores - what a fantastic place to be borned!
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