Baby born on Afghanistan evacuation flight named 'Reach' after jet's call sign

A baby girl, born on a US military evacuation flight en route to Ramstein Air Base in Germany this Saturday, was named ‘Reach’ after the plane’s call sign, according to the top US general in Europe.

The head of US European Command told reporters on Wednesday that officials had spoken to the mother and father of the child, who is the only one actually born on an evacuation flight.

General Tod Wolters says the parents decided to name her Reach because the transport aircraft’s call sign is Reach 828.

The European Command’s statement said that the mother had gone into labour on the flight.

“During a flight from an Intermediate Staging Base in the Middle East, the mother went into labour and began having complications. The aircraft commander decided to descend in altitude to increase air pressure in the aircraft, which helped stabilise and save the mother’s life,” the Air Mobility Command said in a tweet.

Two other babies whose parents were evacuating from Afghanistan have been born over the past week at Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre, the US military hospital in Germany.