Mom gives birth on airplane over Malaysia

updated 1:01 p.m. ET Oct. 23, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - A Malaysian woman who gave premature birth to a boy on board an airplane minutes before it landed will get free flights for life along with her child, an airline official said Friday.

Liew Siaw Hsia, 31, gave birth on budget carrier AirAsia's flight from Penang to Kuching on Wednesday.

AirAsia spokesman Nazatul Mokhtar said Friday that the flight was diverted to nearby Kuala Lumpur for an emergency landing when Liew started labor pains. He says Liew was 27 weeks pregnant, 11 weeks short of the full term.

A doctor on the flight helped the woman deliver while the plane was still 2,000 feet in the air in its final approach to land.

Mother and son were rushed to a nearby hospital after the plane landed, an airline statement said. Their condition late Friday was unknown, though Nazatul said earlier that they were both in good shape.

Nazatul says both Liew and her son will get lifetime of free flights.

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