Passenger goes into labor and gives birth during plane landing in the US

Ashley Blair holds her daughter Brielle, who was born on April 24, 2026, on a Delta Air Lines flight Tina Fritz via AP A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight gave birth to a girl shortly before the plane landed at Portland International Airport, in the state of Oregon, in the United States, on Friday night (24). The baby, Brielle Renee Blair, was born healthy, weighing about 5 pounds, approximately two weeks earlier than expected. ✅ Follow g1’s international news channel on WhatsApp Trending videos on g1 The mother, Ashley Blair, from Tennessee, was traveling from Atlanta to Oregon to give birth near her own mother, but went into labor about 30 minutes before arrival. Paramedics Tina Fritz and Kaarin Powell were returning from vacation in the Dominican Republic when they were called by a flight attendant to help the passenger. According to Fritz, the contractions were becoming more frequent and the flight was full, with 153 passengers. Without an obstetric kit available, the team improvised. Passengers lent blankets, and a shoelace was used to tie the umbilical cord. Another shoelace served as a tourniquet to start an intravenous line. While Ashley was pushing to give birth, the flight attendants warned that the plane was about to touch the ground and that everyone needed to sit down. “We said, ‘No! No!'” he said. Ashley did three “really strong, really good pushes, and the baby came really quickly,” Fritz said. “It was incredible.” Soon after, the plane landed safely. An EMS team at Portland Airport found “the mother and baby healthy, and the new family was taken to a local hospital for observation,” Port of Portland spokeswoman Molly Prescott said in an email to The Associated Press. In a statement, Delta said a doctor and two nurses helped the flight attendants, but Fritz said there was no doctor on the flight and the only nurse remained tending to another sick passenger. The company did not immediately respond to a request for clarification. “We sincerely thank the crew and medical volunteers onboard who helped with customer service prior to landing in Portland. The health and safety of our customers is always our top priority, and we wish the new family all the best,” Delta said in a statement. Ashley Blair did not respond to messages from the AP. Fritz, who has remained in contact with her since her birth, said her mother was a little overwhelmed by all the attention she received. “I feel like we’re friends forever now,” Fritz said.

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