A Southwest Airlines’ Dallas-bound flight was forced to return to Sea-Tac Airport after a human heart was left in the cargo hold.
The organ was due to be offloaded at Seattle and delivered to a local hospital, the airline said.
For some reason that didn’t happen and when the error was discovered the plane made a U-turn.
It’s believed the heart made it back in time in a healthy condition although it is unknown if it had been scheduled for a transplant.
That is very likely considering a turnaround is a decision never taken lightly by a pilot.
Southwest spokesman Dan Landson said it was ‘absolutely necessary to deliver the shipment to its destination in the Seattle area as quickly as possible’.
"Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our customers and the safe delivery of the precious cargo we transport every day," Landson said.
Another jet was later allocated for the Dallas-bound passengers who arrived at their destination about five hours late.
After the pilot announced the reason for turning back to passengers, there was initial shock that a commercial jetliner carries such a precious, time-critical consignment.
That then turned to the realization that everyone ‘was happy to save a life,’ despite the delay, passenger Dr. Andrew Gottschalk told the Seattle Times.
