Place of birth: 1400 ft above the Celtic Sea.
A helicopter crew from RNAS Culdrose is being commended after aiding Islander, Niki Burns, who gave birth on her way to Treliske Hospital.
The helicopter was scrambled after doctors on St. Marys decided that a mainland birth would be preferable. The aircraft arrived at St. Marys airport at around 4 pm on Saturday to pick up the mother, father Rick Burns, a Doctor and Midwife from the Islands.
Nikki Burns, who has been resident on the Islands for less than two years, gave birth to a 9 lb baby boy ten miles off Lands End. As a gesture, the Pilot of the Aircraft took the exact co-ordinates of the birth for future reference. Both mother and child are doing well in Treliske and are expected to return back to their home Island of St. Agnes soon.
It is thought that it is the first baby to be born on a military flight. The birth does throw up the conundrum of whether the child should be called Cornish or Scillonian, some joked that he may be able to play for any football team in the world because it was born in international airspace!
The family have now experienced fame, having appeared BBC Ceefax, BBC News Online, BBC News 24, Channel 4 News and regional news, and many national newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph. The Story was also run as one of the headlines on Sky News. They used video images of the family leaving the aircraft at Treliske that was taken by the Royal Navy Camera man. Several anomalies were spotted in the coverage in the Press, one of the most significant came from the Daily Mail who reported that the Royal Navy Aircraft had actually landed on St. Agnes.
Scilly News wishes the family all the best for the future and a big congratulations.