India, July 25 -- In a scene straight out of a movie, an Air India Express flight from Muscat to Mumbai turned into an airborne maternity ward early Thursday morning when a 29-year-old Thai national went into labour mid-flight - with no doctor on board.

The woman, who was flying with her toddler daughter and headed for Bangkok via Mumbai, gave birth to a baby boy at 35,000 feet - somewhere over Indian airspace - with only cabin crew and a quick-thinking nurse among the passengers to assist her.

What unfolded next was nothing short of extraordinary.

As soon as the woman signalled that she was in labour, the crew jumped into action. Passengers were asked to shift seats, a makeshift delivery space was created, and phones were put away to ...