BOSTON - NORTHWEST Airlines Flight 59 picked up an extra passenger on Wednesday when it was en route from the Netherlands to the United States.

Mr Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for Logan International Airport in Boston, says a woman went into labour and gave birth to an apparently healthy baby girl over the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday during the eight-hour flight from Amsterdam.

Mr Orlandella said a doctor and a paramedic who were on the flight assisted in the birth. He said the plane landed without incident about 10.30am (11.30pm Singapore time), and the mother and baby were immediately taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Mr Orlandella said he did not know the nationality of the mother, but said for customs' purposes the baby was considered a Canadian citizen because she was born over Canada's airspace. -- AP