What would you name a baby delivered aboard an airplane?

On Aug. 5 at around 1 a.m., and less than an hour into the flight, Chrystal Hicks delivered

[Aug. 14, 2020: Joshua Shavit]

The mother of a baby born on an airplane has named her son Sky because of his unique birth.

On Aug. 5 at around 1 a.m., and less than an hour into the flight, Chrystal Hicks delivered Sky Airon Hicks aboard a plane flying from the small community of Glennallen to a hospital in Anchorage.

“I was just having contractions and it wouldn’t stop, and it kept getting stronger and they thought we were going to make it,” Hicks said. “But we obviously didn’t make it very far.”

“It was shocking, it was really weird at first, I didn’t know what to think,” Hicks said. “But everybody kept talking about the baby on the plane.”

After arriving safely to the hospital, Sky was immediately placed on a breathing machine as expected for a newborn delivered a month premature. The baby is expected to be discharged from the hospital next week.

Hicks said filing out the birth certificate information was difficult because they were about 18,000 feet in the air.

“I just put Anchorage,” Hicks said. “I didn’t want to put on a plane or in the sky.”


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What can we learn?

Thankfully there are many well trained, prepared, heroic, and compassionate, flight attendants and EMT staff in the world. Pregnancies at any time can be risky, however, executing a birth at 18,000 ft. and hundreds of miles from the nearest medical facility is especially so.



Joseph Shavit
Joseph ShavitSpace, Technology and Medical News Writer
Joseph Shavit is the head science news writer with a passion for communicating complex scientific discoveries to a broad audience. With a strong background in both science, business, product management, media leadership and entrepreneurship, Joseph possesses the unique ability to bridge the gap between business and technology, making intricate scientific concepts accessible and engaging to readers of all backgrounds.