Baby Born in Flight Aboard Airliner over US

A Southwest flight from San Francisco to Phoenix was diverted after a woman gave birth onboard.

 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Southwest Airlines flight landed in Los Angeles with one more passenger than when it took off.  Baby's first flight took on a whole new meaning when a woman gave birth 

According to Southwest officials, the baby was born shortly after Flight 623's 6:24 a.m. PT takeoff with the assistance of a nurse and doctor onboard.

The woman was assisted by the flight crew and a doctor and nurse who were aboard, airline spokeswoman Emily Samuels said. She said hopefully the airline has a new customer for life.

The flight was then diverted to Los Angeles International Airport about 7:30 a.m

"LAFD praises an ER RN that assisted the mother in giving birth prior to our arrival," LAFD spokesman Erik Scott said in a statement.

Paramedics boarded the aircraft and the mother and newborn, whose names have not been released, were taken to a hospital in good condition, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott said.

The aircraft was taken out of service for cleaning and the other passengers went on to Phoenix aboard another plane, arriving more than two hours behind schedule.

Passenger Julie Dafoe said she and Kurt Reed were sitting next to the woman.

"One of the nurses that helped she said she was like walking around pacing in the airport so they were thinking she was having contractions," Dafoe told Phoenix TV station KTVK.

"All of a sudden I heard a baby cry like a gurgling sound, like a baby that had too much milk or whatever and I'm like `There's no babies on this flight,"' Reed said.

Passengers said they had heard the call for a doctor, but nothing about what the medical emergency was.

"The captain announced congratulations for the arrival of this new baby boy," another passenger Aarti Shahani told KTVK. "So we all started applauding, but it was confusing because we thought someone was going to die not be born."

After a two-and-a-half hour delay, the 111 other passengers aboard Flight 623 were able to continue their journey to Phoenix aboard a new aircraft.