An Alaska Airlines flight attendant has made headlines after her story of saving six rare Chilean flamingo eggs on an August flight from Atlanta to Seattle came to the forefront.
The flight attendant was preparing for takeoff last summer when a passenger's call came through, Amber May, 52, told The Washington Post, recalling how the unconventional rescue began.
"She seemed pretty worried," May, a flight attendant for 10 years, said of the passenger. "She asked, 'Could you help me to keep some eggs warm?'"
May admitted she initially thought the passenger wanted her to "heat up some breakfast."
The passenger clarified she was a zoo employee tasked with transporting six delicate Chilean flamingo eggs from Zoo Atlanta to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. However, her portable incubator had malfunctioned, putting the eggs at risk.
"She told me that to keep the eggs alive, she had to keep them warm during the flight," recalled May. "It was an unusual request."
May swiftly retrieved multiple pairs of blue rubber gloves from the galley, filling them with warm water and tying them up like makeshift balloons.
The zoo employee, who requesting anonymity to Post, built a cozy nest around the eggs with the gloves. Upon hearing about the situation, neighboring passengers contributed their jackets, sweaters, and scarves to wrap around the makeshift incubator for added warmth.
"It became a team effort to help save these little flamingo eggs," May said.
She and fellow flight attendants rotated, taking turns refilling the gloves with warm water during the 5½-hour flight.
"When the flight was over, she thanked everyone, and we were all really hopeful that the eggs would make it," she said of the zoo employee.
A spokesperson from Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo praised May's quick response, stating her actions saved the lives of the six chicks. Four females and two males hatched successfully in September, about a month after the flight.
"We're so thankful for her quick thinking and kindness, as well as the compassion of other passengers who also stepped in to help," zoo communications manager Gigi Allianic said in a statement, noting the eggs would not have survived for five hours in a nonfunctioning incubator.
The chicks were the first Chilean flamingos to hatch at the zoo since 2016.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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