Southwest Airlines flight turns around after discovery of human heart left onboard
A Southwest Airlines flight from Seattle to Dallas had to quickly change course after it was discovered a human heart had been left onboard.
The heart, described by the airline as a “life-critical cargo shipment”, had been put on the aircraft in Sacramento before it flew to Seattle, where it should have been unloaded and delivered.
However, flight 3606 to Dallas on Sunday 9 December was forced to make a hairpin turn mid-journey and head back to Seattle when it became clear the organ had been mistakenly left behind.
Passengers were initially shocked when the pilot made the announcement, but were also “happy to save a life” if it meant turning back, Dr Andrew Gottschalk, who was on the flight, told The Seattle Times.
A Southwest spokesman said that it was “absolutely necessary to deliver the shipment to its destination in the Seattle area as quickly as possible.”
He added: “Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our customers and the safe delivery of the precious cargo we transport every day.”
Passengers were concerned to learn of the heart’s already long journey after an online search revealed that the organ would most likely not be viable for transplant after a few hours.
Details of where the heart was being delivered and what it was to be used for, for example a transplant, are unclear.
It does not seem likely that it was on its way to a hospital in the area; Katherine Pliska, spokeswoman for LifeCenter Northwest, which organises the transfer of transplant organs in the region, said: “We only use private flights. There’s a time limit to get where it needs to go.”
The company that sent the heart was not named by Southwest, which only said it specialises in delivering “life critical” cargo: organs for transplant, medication or specimens for treatments.
Gottschalk, who has a medical practice in New Orleans, said it was a “horrific story of gross negligence".
He added: “The heart in question travelled from California, to Washington, to the other side of Idaho, and back to Washington.”
The passengers were deplaned in Seattle and were delayed for five hours due to an unrelated “mechanical issue” with the aircraft.
