PAL pilot recalls helping Pinay give birth on flight: 'Stressful but fulfilling'

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Stressful but fulfilling.

This was how Philippine Airlines pilot Fidel Guzman Ala described his recent experience helping a pregnant Filipina give birth while in the middle of a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Manila.

 

"It was one of, if not the most, stressful and yet fulfilling experiences in my life," Ala, second officer of the flight, recalled on Facebook.

"As there were no doctors on board, I had to call one through radio satphone and very carefully relay all those medical terms to the cabin attendants delivering the baby," he said.

Ala was helped by cabin attendants in delivering the baby boy later named Ali.

Cielo Villaluna, PAL public information officer, told GMA News Online that it all began four hours into the flight after PR 659 left Dubai at 8:55 p.m. (PHL time). 

“A female passenger started experiencing contractions; she was going into labor,” she said.

Villaluna said Flight Purser Daisy Castellano called on her team of cabin crew, three of whom were registered nurses, while Ala called Med-Air which “linked him to an accredited medical doctor to provide guidance.”

“It was a fateful day,” Ala said, adding the experience "felt a tad terrifying."

"One misinterpretation of the doctor's instructions would spell out a person's doom or destiny. I had to ask and re-ask the doctor on the line if I understood him correctly," he said.

"I now recognize the efforts of those who went through medical school. Who would have thought that in my lifetime, I would have to relay the step-by-step procedure and instructions for cutting an umbilical cord? I had to draw a diagram and re-ask the doctor again and again just to be sure," he added.

Villaluna said a baby boy was "delivered smoothly."

Flight Capt. Mark F. Palomares "decided it would be best to divert to Bangkok for medical evaluation of mother and child," Villaluna said.

She said medics were present to meet the mother and her new-born son "as soon as plane's door was opened.

"Mother was given dextrose and placed on a wheelchair while newborn was held by a medic. They were brought to a hospital in Bangkok for check-up and have since been declared safe and sound," Villaluna said.

"The PAL crew is trained to deal with these inflight moments. An extraordinary situation. A celebration of a brand new life, welcomed into this world above 30,000 feet,” she said.

Fit to travel

Agnes Pagaduan, PAL country manager for the UAE, said the Filipina, whose name she did not disclose for privacy reasons, was given the all-clear, fit to travel approval by authorities when she boarded the chartered PR 659 flight that left Dubai on Friday, June 5 (UAE time), with expected time of arrival (ETA) in Manila at 10 a.m. Philippine time.

"May clearance naman sya… fit to travel. Okay naman sya nang mag-check-in. Baka na-excite lang," Pagaduan said.

Ala said the boy was named Ali, which in Arabic means "elevated," "most high" or "exalted."

"Such a wonderful name for one who is born flight levels above ground. Ali, I hope to meet you one day. God bless you. You are a miracle amid this world's current misery. Fi Amanillah (I leave you in the custody of Allah)! All the best!" Ala said.

Pagaduan also said the flight’s crew attended to the Filipina. "Ang crew namin ang nagpa-anak. Well-trained naman sila," she said, adding that the airline has had several such incidents of expectant mothers giving birth while in flight.

Pagaduan said PAL flight PR 659 had 294 passengers of which 25 were pregnant. It would have been approximately an eight-hour Dubai-Manila flight but the plane had to be diverted to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport because of the medical emergency.

"Dinala sya sa pinakamalapit na ospital," Pagaduan said.

The flight reportedly left Bangkok shortly after the woman and her child were disembarked and arrived in Manila around midday.

Pagaduan said PR 659’s passengers were mostly those returning to the Philippines for good in light of the employment situation in the UAE caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic.

"Karamihan sa mga sumakay ay talagang mga ‘for-good’ na… mga nawalan ng trabaho,"Pagaduan said.

She also disclosed that PAL has another chartered flight, Sunday July 7, with 355 passengers on board of which over 20 were expectant moms.

Also with PAL flight 659 were First Officer Herky Vitug, Flight Attendants Joan Rivera, Maria Josefina Lobo, Maria Cordis Carlyle Yuchongco,  Marie Rose Coronel, Nancy Montinola and Flight Stewards Dino Karganilla, Jose Madarang, Jr., Ronniel James Mendoza and Warren Santiago. --KBK, GMA News