HORRIFIED: Cleaners found the body of newborn wrapped in plastic bag from Etihad flight

HORRIFIED cleaners found the body of a newborn baby wrapped in a plastic bag hidden inside an aeroplane’s toilet after it was born mid-flight.

Indonesian police arrested the tot’s mother – named only as Hani – on Sunday when the jet landed at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

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The ground crew found the full-term baby stowed in a drawer in one of the plane’s toilets, airport police said. The cause of death has not yet been determined.

Officers suspect the 37-year-old mum secretly gave birth during a flight from Abu Dhabi to the Indonesian capital on Saturday.

The migrant worker, from Cianjur in western Java, had been ill during the Etihad flight and forced the pilot to divert to Bangkok. Around four hours after take-off Hani is understood to have begun to bleed, resulting in the captain seeking medical help.

She was removed from the plane in Thailand, but the dead newborn was not found until the flight arrived at its eventual destination. Hani flew home on a later flight. “The woman was in economy class but then laid on a business class seat with an oxygen mask,” said crew member Francesco Calore.

“The captain then announced we should divert to Bangkok.” Jakarta Airport police chief Ahmad Yusef told AFP ground cleaners found the full-term infant wrapped in a plastic bag in a drawer in one of the plane’s toilets.

Talking about he mother, he added: “She didn’t look healthy and won’t be questioned until she is fit. The woman is now at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport’s health centre.” Police say Hani worked as a domestic helper in Abu Dhabi for four years.