On 18 June, a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 777-200 (registered PH-BQI) operated flight KL588 between Lagos, Nigeria and Amsterdam Schiphol, The Netherlands. While flying over the Mediterranean Sea, the pilots diverted to the airport of Barcelona in Spain.
One of the passengers started labour, and delivered her baby in one of the galleys of the aircraft, much to the delight of passengers and crew.
Spanish air traffic control guided the aircraft down towards runway 02 of Barcelona Airport where the aircraft safely landed. “Both mother and baby are doing well,” air traffic control tweeted, and wished them a speedy recovery.
A few hours later, the aircraft departed for Amsterdam, where it landed with a delay of two hours and twenty minutes.
“Wonderful handling of both the emergency landing in Barcelona plus the baby delivery by KLM crew + medical staff at El Prat airport! Both mother and newborn are safe! We went on to AMS and now heading back home in Madrid,” passenger and Pablo Ruiz-Múzquiz wrote on his social media channel.
Vuelo de Lagos a Ámsterdam se desvía de urgencia esta madrugada a #Barcelona por pasajera en avanzado estado de gestación que se ha puesto de parto. Le facilitamos descenso y maniobra de aproximación a pista 02 mientras coordinamos con el aeropuerto la atención médica. Según nos… pic.twitter.com/wBgF6fZf2u
— ????Controladores Aéreos ???????? (@controladores) June 19, 2023
Caption for image is "Oh! Premature baby incoming!" Wonderful handling of both the emergency landing in Barcelona plus the baby delivery by @KLM crew + medical staff at El Prat airport! Both mother and newborn are safe! We went on to AMS and now heading back home in Madrid pic.twitter.com/tDSldv78tm
— Pablo Ruiz-Múzquiz (@diacritica) June 19, 2023
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