A passenger travelling on Caribbean Airlines from Jamaica to New York went into labour and gave birth as the flight was landing — leaving the baby’s citizenship unclear.
In a press release, the airline said the passenger gave birth on flight BW005 on April 4, en route from Kingston, Jamaica, to New York City, just before noon.
The mother and newborn were attended to by medical personnel upon arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
“The airline commends the professionalism and measured response of its crew, who managed the situation in accordance with established procedures, ensuring the safety and comfort of all on board,” the airline said. “Caribbean Airlines also confirms that no emergency was declared during the flight.”
In air traffic controller audio obtained by CBS News, a ground controller quipped that the child should be named “Kennedy” after the airport where the flight landed.
Caribbean Airlines allows pregnant passengers to fly without medical clearance up to the end of the 32nd week of pregnancy, but does not accept passengers after the 35th week, according to its website.
Such incidents are extremely rare. Between 1929 and 2018, 74 infants were born on 73 commercial flights, of whom 71 survived delivery, according to a March 2020 study by the National Library of Medicine.
However, the birth raises legal questions regarding the baby’s citizenship status.
Law By Mike noted in a YouTube video that, depending on the country, a baby’s citizenship may depend on the airspace in which the birth occurred or the nationality of the parents.
“Now the big question is… is that baby a US citizen?” immigration lawyer Brad Bernstein said in a video on his YouTube page. “Here’s the answer — it depends on one thing: where exactly that plane was in the sky at the moment of birth?”
Bernstein explained that if the baby was born in US airspace, the child would automatically be a US citizen under the 14th Amendment and State Department regulations.
However, if the baby were born even a few minutes earlier outside US airspace, the child would not be a US citizen. (New York Post)
