It’s not often that an airline confers free flights for life on a passenger, but that’s just what happened to one lucky newborn.
And in other airline news, two Northwest pilots may have been sleeping like babies when they overshot their destination by well over 100 miles.
Get the stories behind these headlines…
Baby, You Were Born a Travelin’ Man
A mother and her baby boy will both receive free flights for life after the woman went into labor aboard an AirAsia flight 2,000 feet in the air.
The Malaysian woman, Liew Siaw Hsia, 31, was just 27 weeks pregnant and wasn’t expecting for about another three months when she boarded the flight from Penang to Kuching.
According to AirAsia officials, the pilots diverted the flight to Kuala Lumpur for an emergency landing shortly after Liew started going into labor.
Fortunately, there was a doctor onboard who was able to help Liew deliver the boy, with the assistance of the flight attendants, while the plane made its final descent.
Officials say Liew and her son are in stable condition after being rushed to a hospital upon landing.
Learn more about traveling with kids in our Family Travel section.
Pilots Asleep at the Wheel?
The Federal Aviation Administration has started investigating why two Northwest Airlines pilots overshot their destination by 150 miles before finally getting back into contact with air traffic controllers.
The two pilots claim they lost track of their location while they were engaged in a heated discussion of airline policy. Officials are looking into whether or not fatigue had anything to do with their lapse.
As it stands now, the allegation that the pilots fell asleep is purely speculative. However, investigators will listen to the cockpit voice recorder to determine whether or not the pilots were actually debating airline policy.
The National Transportation Safety Board recently stated that the distraction caused by cockpit chatter played a key role in two recent crashes that killed a total of 62 people.
In this case, no one was hurt and the plane landed safely before many passengers even realized what had happened.
Pilot fatigue has been a hot-button issue lately for the FAA and pilots unions. The House recently passed a bill that would require the FAA to regulate how many hours airlines can force pilots to fly before they are allowed to rest. Airlines would also have to create “fatigue risk management plans,” which are programs that would assess a pilot’s schedule and notify the airlines if it is likely to cause a dangerous amount of fatigue.
The two pilots have been suspended from flying during the investigation.
By Dan Bence for PeterGreenberg.com.
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