Passenger Gives Birth on Delta Flight to Portland

A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Portland International Airport gave birth to a healthy baby girl about 20 minutes before the Boeing 737 touched down on Friday night.

Ashley Blair, from Tennessee, delivered 5-pound-12-ounce Brielle Renee Blair aboard Flight 478 after going into labor roughly 30 minutes from the Oregon airport. Blair had been traveling to join her mother for the birth, which arrived two weeks early. Two off-duty paramedics on board, Tina Fritz and Kaarin Powell, assisted after flight attendants sought medical help. The pair had been aiding another passenger with a nurse when called to Blair's row.

With 153 passengers aboard, the paramedics cleared space by reseating those nearby. Lacking an obstetrical kit or blankets, they borrowed coverings from other passengers and used a flight attendant's shoelace to tie off the umbilical cord and start an IV. Powell sacrificed one of her own shoelaces for the tourniquet. As contractions intensified, Blair announced it was time to push.

"She yelled, 'OK, it's time. I got to push,'" Fritz recounted. After three strong pushes, the baby emerged just as the plane prepared to land. Powell cut the cord and...