Woman Who Didn’t Know She Was Pregnant Gave Birth Onboard Flight to Tokyo

The Daily Mail and Japan Times are reporting on a baby born onboard an Air Canada flight from Calgary to Tokyo over the weekend.

An Air Canada flight arrived in Tokyo with an extra passenger after a woman give birth as the plane flew over the Pacific Ocean.

A doctor who happened to be on board the flight from Calgary – which arrived in Japan on Mother’s Day – delivered the baby girl after the crew asked passengers for medical help.

The 23-year-old mother, from Canada, and the newborn were taken to a hospital, where they spent the night and were reportedly doing well…

From the article itself I was most surprised that the aircraft was a Boeing 767, somehow I don’t think I realized there were North America – Asia flights operated by a 767 but of course Calgary – Tokyo is actually a shorter flight than Dallas – Frankfurt.

Apparently though there’s more to the story than makes it into the news pieces. Reader Michelle shares more details from onboard that flight which departed Canada on Saturday,

…[a y]oung girl in seat in front of her started screaming like she was going to die. Turns out she was having a baby even though she didn’t know she was pregnant.

Two doctors were on board. Everyone seems to be fine after delivery at 30,000 feet.

[The b]oyfriend is terrified of the girl’s father.

She relays that the doctors were a husband and wife from India, though the two news stories mention only one doctor.

I had just heard a story a week earlier about a woman giving birth who didn’t know she was pregnant until she was in the hospital. It wasn’t anything I had ever heard of before.

So while the stories talk about Air Canada allowing pregnant passengers up through their 36th week, any limitations can only exist for women who know they are pregnant.

This was the third known birth on board so far this year.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. ” I don’t think I realized there were North America – Asia flights operated by a 767″

    Not even the only one…

  2. I’m also surprised you didn’t realize there were 767 flights to Asia. They were the backbone of Air Canada’s trans-Pacific fleet out of YYC and YVR for years flying to NRT, ICN, KIX, PVG, and PEK. ANA and JAL also flew 767s to YVR. Most of these flights have been or will be replaced by 787s. I believe Delta also currently flies 767s from SEA to NRT/HND and previously flew them to KIX and PEK.

  3. AC also operates (at least a few years also) YVR-PEK and YVR-PVG during off-peak times on 767s.

  4. I guess Gary not knowing about the 767 flights isn’t as bad as a girl not knowing she was pregnant!

  5. I would guess she did know but did not say so as that would have prevented her from flying. Just a guess maybe for real.

  6. So in this case, what country is the child technically (or legally) born in, and if a different country than of the parent’s, will she have dual citizenship?

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