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Heart Left On Southwest Plane After Sacramento To Seattle Flight

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – A Southwest Airlines flight that had started in Sacramento had to turn around during the Seattle to Dallas leg of the trip after the crew discovered a human heart had been left on-board.

A Southwest spokesperson said the decision was made that Flight #3606 would return to Washington after "we learned of a life-critical cargo shipment on-board the aircraft that was intended to stay in Seattle for delivery to a local hospital."

The airline didn't say how long the plane had been in the air when the organ was discovered. The aircraft turned around to ensure the heart would make it back to Seattle within a certain time window.

It's believed the heart made it back within the allotted time. Once the aircraft landed it was taken out of service, but for an unrelated mechanical issue.

A different plane was brought in to carry passengers on to Dallas. Passengers were delayed about five hours.

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