Human heart left on Southwest plane forces pilot to turn around

Seattle (CBS News) — A Southwest flight from Seattle to Dallas was forced to turn around after someone left a human heart onboard. The Seattle Times reports Flight 3606 initially arrived in Seattle from Sacramento, California.

Someone forgot to unload the heart before the plane left for Dallas, and the captain announced over Idaho they were turning back.

Southwest said the "life-critical cargo shipment" was for a hospital and had been sent by a company specializing in shipments. But no Seattle-area hospitals said they were involved. Organ-procurement organizations in Washington and California said they never use commercial flights for heart transplants.

According to CBS affiliate KYTX-TV, once the plane landed in Seattle, the plane was taken out of service due to an unrelated mechanical issue and workers brought in a different plane for the flight. It eventually took off again after a five-hour delay.

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