Baby born on board diverted Cathay flight dies
Cabin crew help deliver infant on plane; woman was cleared to fly; mother and newborn rushed to Tokyo hospital but infant fails to survive
A baby has died after being born prematurely on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to New York in a medical emergency that forced the plane, with 279 people on board, to divert to Japan.
The women, understood to have been in the later stages of her pregnancy but medically cleared to fly, went into labour some hours after the Boeing 777-300 took off from Hong Kong on Sunday afternoon.
Flight attendants rushed to the woman's aid while the captain diverted the plane to Tokyo, where emergency services were put on standby.
The woman and her baby were rushed to hospital on arrival at Narita Airport shortly after 10.30pm local time on Sunday. But sadly the infant did not survive.
Most passengers on board flight CX840 were unaware of the drama unfolding as cabin crew took the woman to a screened off area of the plane when she went into labour.
One passenger sent a message to a friend in Hong Kong shortly after the plane touched down in Tokyo.