‘Sky baby’: China social media hails pilot who made mid-air dash from cockpit to help deliver baby in plane toilet on Taipei-Bangkok flight
- Cabin crew find passenger in labour in aircraft toilet, alert flight deck
- 18-year veteran flyer leaves co-pilot at controls, rushes to help with delivery
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A commercial pilot has been hailed as a hero – and become a darling of mainland social media – for leaving the cockpit mid-flight to help deliver a passenger’s baby.
Jakarin Sararnrakskul, from Thailand, who has 18 years flying experience, was at the controls of a VietJet plane from Taipei in Taiwan to Bangkok in Thailand on February 23.
During the journey a passenger went into labour and he safely delivered her baby, making him feel proud, Sina News reported.
It is unclear whether the mother-to-be informed the cabin crew about her condition before boarding.
As the plane cruised at thousands of feet she was found in one of the bathrooms about to give birth by members of the cabin crew, who told Jakarin immediately.
The father-of-one had never helped with a delivery before but he appeared calm, if somewhat nervous throughout the birth.
Pilot-turned-midwife Jakarin knew that flying the plane back to the airport of departure or landing at another airport would be too late for the woman.
He left his female co-pilot at the controls and rushed to the mother-to-be.
Details of the challenges he faced during the birth have not been disclosed, but Jakarin’s actions safely brought a newborn baby boy into the world.
The child was nicknamed “Sky baby” by cabin crew.
With the support of paramedics who were on standby at the Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, both the mother and her baby boy were sent, safe and healthy, to a hospital in the Thai capital.
Jakarin shared a photo of himself holding the child on his social media account, with the caption: “I have been a pilot for 18 years. I just helped a newborn baby on the plane”.
When being asked how he felt about the unexpected experience, he said he was very proud of himself for being brave enough to help the passenger deliver the baby.
“He will be able to tell everyone for the rest of his life that he was born in the air,” he said of the baby boy.
The news report cited a study carried out in 2020 by the International Society of Travel Medicine which said that there were 74 births on commercial flights between 1929 and 2018, 71 of which survived delivery.
This means that there is one birth per 26 million passengers.
Mainland social media has been captivated by the story.
One online observer said: “Wow, how brave he is. Amazing!”
“It was very lucky this woman had such a great pilot,” said another.
While a third person said: “The pilot is a hero sent by god.”
“I hope the baby boy will grow up to be as kind and brave as his hero,” another added.
