Dead fetus found in plane toilet

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A dead fetus was found in a toilet on an American Airlines flight at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Tuesday. Examiners say that the fetus has a gestational age of five months.

A cleaning crew made the discovery at about 5 a.m. on Tuesday when they found a large amount of toilet paper in the lavatory. After removing the paper, a cleaner discovered a foot of what appeared to be a fetus. The supervisor, and eventually the law enforcement, was notified.

Currently, the New York City’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) is looking into the matter.

Police monitoring the entrance to New York's La Guardia airport. /Photo via Reuters

“The OCME can confirm we’re investigating what we believe to be a human fetus found deceased on an airplane,” the agency said.

One day after the fetus was discovered, scientists at the city’s OCME confirmed that the fetus had a gestational age of 5 months. Gestational age is a common term used to describe how far along the pregnancy is. A fetus of five months begins to resemble a newborn.

No further details about the scientists' findings were immediately available.

American Airlines said employees are “working with law enforcement on an investigation.” The company later released a statement, saying that "As we continue to learn more about this tragic and sensitive situation, we are actively cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation."

The investigation delayed at least one other American Airlines flight.

The matter caused delay. /Photo via Twitter account of LaGuardia Airport

Citing a law enforcement source, New York Post reports that the fetus was left by a teenager who suffered a miscarriage in the plane’s toilet. The law enforcement also said police are currently investigating sisters from Brooklyn who were traveling from Jamaica to LaGuardia Airport. After the plane had landed in LaGuardia Airport, one girl ran to a plane toilet while her sister stood guard outside.

In July 2018, a body of a stillborn baby was found on board an Imphal-Guwahati-New Delhi AirAsia flight. The infant was “lifeless and abandoned” and “wrapped in toilet paper” in one of the plane’s toilets when it was about to land. A woman believed to be responsible, who was a 19-year-old taekwondo fighter about to go to South Korea, was then detained.