Overview
- A passenger in labor delivered a baby about 30 minutes before landing on Friday on Delta Flight 478 from Atlanta to Portland.
- The crew declared a medical emergency, received priority handling into Portland, and EMS took the mother and newborn to a hospital in stable condition.
- Two Oregon EMTs, Tina Fritz and Kaarin Powell, and flight attendants assisted using passenger blankets and a shoelace to manage the delivery and umbilical cord.
- Delta thanked a doctor and two nurses in a statement, though the paramedics who helped told the Associated Press that no doctor was on board.
- The girl, later named Brielle Renee Blair, arrived about two weeks early at roughly five and a half pounds, according to the EMTs.