Human heart left on Southwest flight delivered on time; organ has 'no intended recipient'
Human heart left on Southwest flight delivered on time; organ has 'no intended recipient'
Flying is one of the safest forms of travel. But with so many airline choices out there, which airlines are the safest?Veuer's Mercer Morrison has the story.
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The human heart left on board a recent Southwest Airlines flight from Seattle was not assigned to a patient, Sierra Donor Services confirmed to USA TODAY.
Like a mishandled bag, the human organ was mistakenly kept on the connecting flight instead of being taken out of the cargo hold in Seattle, causing the Dallas-bound flight to turn around. The heart was en route to an area tissue processor to recover valves for "future surgical procedures."
"There was no intended recipient," spokesperson Deanna Santana said in a statement to USA TODAY Thursday. "While this gift was rerouted, it was received unharmed… to prepare the valves for future transplant."
Southwest described the Sunday evening incident in a statement to USA TODAY, referring to the transplant organ on Flight 3606 as "a life-critical cargo shipment" that was "intended to stay in Seattle for delivery to a local hospital."
However, the human heart was intended for LifeNet Health, a tissue processor in Renton, Washintong., where a contracted courier ultimately transported the organ. Despite the delay, the Seattle Times reported the heart was delivered 12 hours before it would have been unusable.
"Out of respect for the family of this donor, we reached out to them to keep them apprised of this development," Monica Johnson, Executive Director of Sierra Donor Services, told USA TODAY. "They are relieved their loved one’s heart valves were received and will be able to help others."
The "heart 'left on plane' reached its intended destination in time!" Santana added.
During the Sunday flight, the captain told the passengers about the heart to explain why the flight needed to redirect, saying the heart had been left on the plane following a previous flight from Sacramento, California, to Seattle.
More: Southwest plane skids off the runway in rainy weather in California
Those on the flight were in shock but "happy to save a life," passenger Dr. Andrew Gottschalk told the Seattle Times.
Gottschalk said flyers became concerned when they learned hearts are only viable for transplants for a few hours.
"We made the decision to return to Seattle as it was absolutely necessary to deliver the shipment to its destination in the Seattle area as quickly as possible," Southwest said in a statement.
But that's not all: The flight also had an "unrelated mechanical issue."
"We brought in a different aircraft to continue the flight to Dallas, with an estimated delay of approximately five hours," the statement continued. "Nothing is more important to us than the Safety of our Customers and the safe delivery of the precious cargo we transport every day."
Contributing: Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY
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