コウノトリ ー stork

プエルトリコ発、フロリダ行きのジェットブルー航空機の中で赤ちゃんを出産するという珍事があったようです。


A JetBlue flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Fort Lauderdale landed with an extra passenger after an expectant mother gave birth to a baby thousands of feet in the air.

Spokeswoman Jen Dang told USA TODAY that Flight 1954's crew and medical personnel on board helped deliver JetBlue's "youngest customer to date" during the 2 hour and 50 minute journey Friday.

"We’d like to thank the crew and medical professionals on board for their quick action under pressure, and wish the new mother and son all the best," Dang added.

Coincidentally, the airplane was named "Born To Be Blue" and the newborn was a boy. However, the aircraft's name will likely be updated to reflect its newest traveler.
(Cydney Henderson. Woman gives birth mid-flight to baby boy on JetBlue plane named 'Born To Be Blue.' USA Today. February 17, 2019.)


高度1万メートル（！？）なのかは分かりませんが、飛行中に産気づいたらしく、揺れる機体の中で男の子が生まれたようです。

ジェットブルー航空は公式ツイッターで、


Giving storks a day off. With mom’s okay, we’d like to rename “Born To Be Blue” after our newest baby blue and our youngest customer ever. More baby shower gifts to come! #AirBorn


と投稿しました。

“Stork”とはコウノトリのことですが、赤ちゃんを運んでくる幸運の鳥の象徴としてのコウノトリは万国共通とは知りませんでした。（日本だけかと思っていました。）

なぜコウノトリが赤ちゃんを運んでくるというイメージを持つに至ったのかについて興味深い記事があります。


Newborn babies are often depicted with a rather incongruous creature: a long-legged, sharp-beaked bird known as a stork. The image of this bird — usually with a cloth bundle dangling from its beak — has become so intertwined with infants that we barely question the stork's ubiquitous presence on well-wishers' cards, baby clothes and blankets.
(What's Behind the Myth That Storks Deliver Babies? Live Scient. June 13, 2018.)


詳しくは記事をお読みいただければと思いますが、諸説あるものの起源ははっきりしないということのようです。