A baby boy has been born on board a coastguard helicopter while it was 1,400 feet in the air.
The child was born above Penzance in Cornwall after his mother went into labour while visiting the Isles of Scilly.
The incident began at about 7pm on Saturday when the Coastguard was asked by the South West Ambulance Service to assist with a rescue.
Since there was not a midwife on the islands on Saturday night, the mother-to-be and her partner needed to be flown to a hospital on the mainland.
The Newquay Coastguard helicopter was scrambled, collected a midwife, touched down at St Mary's Airport, picked up the man and woman then began the trip to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.
However, the baby boy was in such a hurry he decided to make an appearance on board the aircraft.
At 8.53pm, with the help of the midwife and aircrew, the healthy baby boy was born.
Jonathan Mustard, aeronautical operations controller for HM Coastguard, said: "This is the second time that a baby has been born on board a Coastguard helicopter.
"The last one was born over Lunna Holm, Shetland in December 2012.
"We are absolutely thrilled and delighted to have played a part in the birth and are pleased that mum and baby are doing well.
"It's rare to hear that our helicopter launched with seven people on board but were preparing to land with eight.
"Congratulations mum and dad."
