Alaska Airlines flight attendant meets baby flamingos who hatched from eggs she saved mid-air

A Woodland Park Zoo recently honoured an Alaska Airlines flight attendant for saving six rare Chilean flamingo eggs on a August flight from Atlanta to Seattle.

Recalling the incident, Amber told Alaska Airlines that she responded to a passenger's frantic request for assistance while working as an attendant on the August flight.

“A passenger rang the call button and asked if I would help keep some eggs warm,” she said.

The zoo official onboard was transferring flamingo eggs in an incubator from Zoo Atlanta to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Amber was told by a zoo official that the incubator had failed and that they required assistance to protect the eggs by keeping them warm.

Amber took immediate action and filled the rubber gloves "with warm water," which the zoo administrator placed around the eggs. Other passengers on the flight offered their coats and scarf in a bid to give "extra insulation" to the temporary nest.

The flight attendant mentioned that she and other crew members looked after the flamingo eggs frequently during the journey and they also changed the gloves "as the water cooled."

Also Read: iPhone falls 16,000 feet from Alaska Airlines, emerges intact

Amber visits the zoo to meet rare flamingos after months

Few months after the incident, Amber received a call from the zoo asking if she would like to meet the flamingos she saved. She accepted the invitation and arrived at zoo along with her granddaughter Sunny.

"I was honored and so happy that the chicks had hatched—all six of them!" she said, according to the Alaska Airlines release.

In order to honor Amber's efforts, the Woodland Park Zoo named one of the six flamingos after Amber's granddaughter, Sunny.

"Having baby Sunny meet flamingo Sunny was just wonderful," Amber said, per the release. "I am excited to see them both grow up."

The names of the other five flamingos—Magdalena, Amaya, Rosales, Gonzo, and Bernardo—were decided through public polls.

“We are forever grateful for the heroic measures Amber took to help keep our precious flamingo eggs warm and viable. This means the world to our zoo family. They would have been lost if you hadn't gone above and beyond for us,” said Gigi Allianic, from Woodland Park Zoo.