Plane forced to turn around mid-flight after mum realises her baby is still at airport.

While mid-air on a flight, a woman reportedly realised she had forgotten her baby at the airport’s terminal, forcing the plane to promptly turn around.

According to Gulf News, the plane took off from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, when the passenger remembered she was travelling with her child, who she had left in the boarding area at King Abdul Aziz International Airport.

Upon realising, the woman alerted cabin crew who then notified the pilot. The plane, understood to be on its way to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, then redirected its path back to the airport, in a decision that is only ever made for exceptional or emergency situations.

A video, which has been widely circulated on social media in Saudi Arabia, of the pilot’s exchange with air control operators reveals how the unusual situation unravelled.

“May God be with us. Can we come back or what?” the captain asked the air traffic operator. Unaware of the protocol for the bizarre situation, the air controllers then clarified with their colleagues what the appropriate procedure is.

“This flight is requesting to come back… a passenger forgot her baby in the waiting area, the poor thing," one of the air controllers says.

The pilot is then asked to clarify the issue, to which he can be heard responding: "We told you, a passenger left her baby in the terminal and refuses to continue the flight."

The air controllers then agreed the best decision is to divert the plane's path and return home so the mother could retrieve her child.

“Ok, head back to the gate. This is totally a new one for us!”