Baby on board! Qatar Air Boeing 777 diverts to Newfoundland

A Qatar Airways Boeing 777 en route from Miami to Doha diverted to Newfoundland's remote Gander airport Sunday when a passenger went into labor and gave birth mid-flight.

Fortunately for the woman, there were two doctors onboard to assist with the birth, according to The Beacon newspaper of Gander. The woman gave birth to a healthy boy, Brian Hicks, safety manager at Gander International Airport, tells the AFP news agency.

"Thirty minutes before the plane was preparing to land, she gave birth to a baby boy," Hicks says to AFP, adding: "That's the youngest passenger we've ever had at Gander."

The Qatar Airways 777 was carrying 337 passengers and landed in Gander at around 4:30 a.m. local time, the Canadian Press reports. The aircraft was on the ground at Gander for about two hours and then continued on to Doha after the mother and baby were taken to a Newfoundland hospital.

The airline has a policy of not accepting pregnant women who have reached the 36th week of their pregnancy. It was not clear from the media reports if the woman did not abide by the rule or if the baby came earlier than expected.

Regardless, AFP reports that mother and baby were in good health and were "thought to still be in Canada."

The nationality of the mother was unknown, though Hicks tells AFP the "big talking point" there is what nationality the baby will take.

"It's Canadian airspace over Canadian territory, so that's an interesting question for immigration for sure," he tells CBC.

As for Gander, the small community sits in a sparsely populated region but the town's airport lies near the flight path used by many flights traveling between Europe and North America. Gander also is one of the last North American airports with a long runway as Europe-bound flights head out over the Atlantic.

Because of that, Gander does get frequent diversions from widebody aircraft. Still, Hicks tells CBC this is the first flight he's aware of that's diverted there because of a newborn.

"A birth is a new one and I've been here 27 years," Hicks says to the Toronto Sun.