This very convincing ficticious newspaper article was sent to us by FormerRepublican, which further illustrates how ridiculous Sarah Palin's account of the wild ride really is...
Alaska Governor Gives Birth on Flight
April 18, 2008
Billings, Mont.--Alaska Airlines Flight 666 from Dallas to Seattle was diverted to Billings for an emergency landing Thursday afternoon after Governor Sarah Palin, 44, of Alaska, went into labor. A son, Trig Paxon Van Palin, her fifth child, was born on board the airplane thirty minutes before it touched down in Billings.
Gov. Palin was returning home to Alaska from Dallas where she attended an energy conference for the Republican Governors Association, and had given a luncheon speech before her departure on the 3:30 p.m. flight.
The infant, who was born five weeks premature, has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome and jaundice. He was admitted to Billings General Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where he is listed in satisfactory condition. Early tests indicate he may have a hole in his heart, a surgically correctable condition that occurs in up to 50% of infants with Down Syndrome, according to Dr. Rebecca Crider, chief of neonatology at Billings General. The infant will remain hospitalized for at least one week. Gov. Palin is expected to be released Sunday, following treatment for an unspecified infection.
Palin's husband Todd, 43, was on board the flight and assisted two passengers, a nurse practitioner and a dentist, with the birth. The flight crew hastily devised a maternity ward in the last row of the first class cabin, using blankets to shield passengers from the sight.
"Man, that was the most scared I've ever been," said Mr. Palin, a champion snowmobile racer, visibly shaken by the surprise birth. "I've been lost in blizzards that weren't half as scary as that." He expressed his gratitude for the quick actions of the Alaska Airlines crew.
Following the emergency landing, which occurred without incident despite icy conditions following a sleet storm, passengers were forced to spend the night in Billings. Although Alaska Airlines provided passengers with vouchers for hotel rooms, numerous passengers voiced their complaints.
"My 93-year old father was moved into hospice care yesterday and the nurses told me to come at once," said a tearful Mitzi Showalter, 64, of Grapevine, Texas. "There are no flights available until tomorrow night. I'm afraid I'll be too late to say goodbye. But I'm grateful that Mrs. Palin and the baby are all right," the self-described lifelong Republican added.
Other passengers weren't so forgiving. Catherine Paglia, 50, of Austin, Texas, said the diverted flight would force her to miss her daughter's wedding. "My only child is getting married in the fairy-tale wedding that we've been planning together since she was five and where am I? The Holiday Inn Express!" Paglia said she had contacted her attorney about the possibility of suing Mrs. Palin and Alaska Airlines.
Officials at Alaska Airlines had no comment today pending review of the incident. Company policy permits expectant mothers to fly in the late stages of pregnancy with a doctor's approval; other airlines prohibit travel for women in their eight month. It wasn't known at press time whether flight attendants verified that Gov. Palin had permission from her physician to fly. Airline officials said that the policy will be reconsidered. Next week a formal statement about the incident will be released. It will include the extra cost incurred by the airline for the detour and emergency landing.
A first class passenger and father of four who wished to remain anonymous indicated he overheard Mr. Palin telling the nurse practitioner who assisted with the birth that Gov. Palin had experienced leaking of amniotic fluid very early that morning and had contractions while giving her luncheon speech. Mr. Palin said that after a phone call that morning to Gov. Palin's doctor, the couple decided attempt the trip home so that their child could be born in Alaska.
"That's plain crazy," the passenger, an Anchorage resident, insisted. "It's crazy. Come on, we're talking about a trip that's two four-hour flights, a two-hour layover in Seattle, and 45-minute drive to Wasilla. Everybody knows that the more kids you've had, the faster they come. Our youngest kid came in just a few hours."
Although the infant's early arrival was a surprise, Mr. Palin confirmed that the Palins knew he would be born with Down Syndrome and faced the prospect of serious complications at birth. "We thought we'd make it home," he shrugged.
A Seattle couple, also seated in first class, said their four-year old son received an unwelcome biology lesson during the flight. "There were blankets up, but we could hear everything that happened. I mean, everything," the wife stressed. "Try explaining to a four-year old why the pretty lady in the next row is screaming and yelling like that."
Her husband said, "Now he can't stop talking about it. It's safe to say it was traumatic for him. The whole thing has been surreal. When was the last time a governor gave birth on an airplane?"
Mrs. Palin was elected governor of Alaska in 2006. She served as mayor of Wasilla from 1996 to 2002.
Sources within Senator John McCain's presidential campaign say that Palin is under consideration for the vice presidential slot on the prospective McCain ticket. A staffer explained, "What Gov. Palin lacks in education and experience, she makes up for in good old common sense. And Sen. McCain intends to make a good old common sense choice that's best for the Republican party and for America."
(Click here for a real story of a baby born on an airplane a few days ago)
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