Police questioning juvenile in birth of baby on plane
HOUSTON (AP) - Investigators have questioned a 14-year-old girl they suspect gave birth in the bathroom of a Continental Airlines plane in Houston, police said Monday.
Police said preliminary results of an autopsy on the fetus indicated it was stillborn and not viable.
Police were called to Bush Intercontinental Airport after a cleaning crew found the fetus inside a wastebasket in the airplane bathroom about 15 minutes after the plane landed Sunday afternoon.
The Boeing 737 plane landed in Houston on a non-stop flight from New York's LaGuardia Airport. The plane, which was about 30 minutes late, carried 144 passengers and six crew members.
"We talked to a number of passengers and located a particular juvenile we are questioning," Houston police spokesman John Cannon said. "The juvenile has possible involvement as the one who gave birth."
Police questioned the juvenile late Sunday night. Cannon said he did not immediately know where she was from.
"We are trying to make determinations of where and when this occurred, how long into the flight," Cannon said. "All indications are it occurred sometime on the flight."
Houston police are involved because the fetus was discovered within the city limits.
Julie King, a spokeswoman for Houston-based Continental Airlines, declined to comment Monday.
