Mid-air miracle as woman delivers baby on Delta flight to Portland with the help of quick-thinking passengers

Published: 15:10, 27 April 2026 | Updated: 15:13, 27 April 2026 A Delta flight traveling from Atlanta to Portland touched down with an unexpected new passenger on board.  Ashley Blair gave birth mid-air on the aircraft Friday night, where a doctor and two nurses were miraculously on board and jumped into action to help with the delivery.  'It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, actually,' EMT Tina Fritz, who aided in the delivery, told KOIN 6.  Fritz was traveling with fellow EMT Caarin Powell, and with extremely limited supplies, managed to wrangle a few essentials to help the mom in need.  'I asked for an OB kit, which they did not have. I asked for blankets, which they did not have. So I was like, okay, we need to get blankets from passengers,' Fritz told the outlet.  'I need some shoestrings. So the flight attendant took his shoestring out, cut it for us.'  Fritz added that the birth was smooth and speedy. Within 30 minutes and just 'three really good pushes,' the baby was safely in Blair’s arms.  'Mom was a rock star, like, mom did so good,' Fritz said.  EMTs Caarin Powell (left) and Tina Fritz, and mother Ashley Blair, posed together in the plane's row after Blair gave birth Blair holding her new baby girl, Brielle Renee, bundled up in a blanket given to her by a fellow passenger Fritz posted snaps of the adorable baby on Facebook, bundled up in her mother's arms. One photo showed the two EMTs and the mom posed together in the row, with the little girl sound asleep. 'At three thousand miles in the air, Miss Brielle Renee was born,' Fritz wrote on Facebook. 'She weighed 5lbs 8oz and was 18.5in. And the cutest thing ever.' The whole plane cheered for the mom and team as the plane safely touched ground, with passengers rejoicing over the extraordinary birth. 'It was pretty wild just to see it all happen,' a passenger told KPTV. Jess Cushenberry was on the flight with her daughter and initially had no idea what was unfolding in the back of the aircraft.  'I actually didn’t know what was going on at first,' Cushenberry told the outlet. 'Then somehow my seatmate found out that there was a baby being born.' Just a few rows from the ordeal, Cushenberry even offered her own blanket to the laboring mom.  Little Brielle weighs 5lbs 8oz and was 18.5in Fritz holding Brielle after they safely landed The whole plane cheered for the mom and team as the plane safely touched ground A passenger just a few rows away from the ordeal  gave her own blanket to the mom-in-need 'I’ve given birth, and I’ve given birth naturally, so I know it is not a comfortable situation. And she wasn’t yelling or screaming or anything,' she said of Blair. In a statement to KOIN6, a Delta spokesperson commended the flight crew and medical volunteers on board. 'We extend our sincere thanks to the crew and medical volunteers on board who stepped in to provide care to a customer onboard prior to landing in Portland,' the spokesperson said. 'The health and safety of our customers is always our top priority, and we wish the new family all the best,' they added. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.