Everyone is evacuating.

A baby girl was born on a plane fleeing Afghanistan for Germany’s Rammstein Air Force, the U.S. Air Force’s Air Mobility Command reported Sunday. Neither the baby nor the Air Force C-17′s arrival went quite as planned.

“During a flight from an Intermediate Staging Base in the Middle East, the mother went into labor and began having complications,” they reported. “The aircraft commander decided to descend in altitude to increase air pressure in the aircraft, which helped stabilize and save the mother’s life.”

A team of medics boarded the plane once it landed and delivered the baby in the plane’s cargo bay Saturday. Mother and child were brought to a nearby medical facility and are said to be doing well.

Thousands of Afghans have fled the capital city of Kabul since it fell to the Taliban last week. The highly conservative theocracy has a long history of repressing women and girls.

About the Author

Featured

Ceudy Gutierrez reads a book to her 2-year-old son, Matias, at their home in Buford, GA, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Ceudy Gutierrez is struggling to make ends meet for herself and her three young kids following her husband’s ICE arrest earlier this fall. (Miguel Martinez/ AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez