Flight Forced To Turn Back After Human Heart Found Onboard

It is unclear what the organ was supposed to be used for.
File photo
File photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS

An airborne flight in the US was forced to turn around after crew discovered a human heart in the cargo hold.

The South West Airlines flight was making its way from Seattle to Dallas when the captain told passengers they would be doing a U-turn.

The heart was supposed to have been offloaded before the plane took off, Seattle Times reports.

Confirming the incident, a spokesperson for the airline said: “Once we realised the error we immediately worked to return to Seattle.”

Stating that it was “absolutely necessary to deliver the shipment to its destination in the Seattle area as quickly as possible”, the spokesperson 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.”

It is not clear what it was set to be used for, but the paper added that the heart was being delivered to a hospital.

It was also being shipped by a company that deals with “life-critical” cargo.

If being used for a transplant, an organ can typically be stored for between four and six hours.

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