Southwest B737 near Seattle on Dec 9th 2018, heartfelt return

Last Update: December 14, 2018 / 22:33:48 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Dec 9, 2018

Classification
Incident

Airline
Southwest Airlines

Flight number
WN-3606

Departure
Seattle, United States

Destination
Dallas Love, United States

Aircraft Registration
N7726A

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-700

ICAO Type Designator
B737

A Southwest Boeing 737-700, registration N7726A performing flight WN-3606 from Seattle,WA to Dallas Love,TX (USA), was enroute at FL370 about 490nm southeast of Seattle when the crew was informed a human heart intended for a hospital in Seattle had not been unloaded in Seattle. The crew decided to turn around and return to Seattle to deliver the heart to the hospital, although with some delay. The aircraft landed safely back about 2.5 hours after departure.

Due to an unrelated technical issue on the ground the aircraft was unable to depart again.

The airline reported they made the decision to return to Seattle as it was absolutely necessary to deliver the shipment to its destination.

A replacement Boeing 737-700 registration N264LV reached Dallas with a delay of about 8 hours.

The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 14 hours after landing back.

On Dec 14th 2018 it became known that the heart was intended for a tissue bank and had to be processed within 48 hours after the patient's death, no patient was waiting to receive the organ. The heart was planned to arrive at the tissue bank with 15 hours left to process the heart, due to the delay the heart arrived with 12 hours left and could successfully be processed. The bank said, the four valves of the heart were to be used in future surgical procedures.
Aircraft Registration Data
Registration mark
N7726A
Country of Registration
United States
Date of Registration
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Manufacturer
BOEING
Aircraft Model / Type
737-7BD
Number of Seats
Gbc Subscribe to unlock
ICAO Aircraft Type
B737
Year of Manufacture
Qhbh Subscribe to unlock
Serial Number
Dcgp Subscribe to unlock
Aircraft Address / Mode S Code (HEX)
Dkjcic Subscribe to unlock
Engine Count
A Subscribe to unlock
Engine Manufacturer
Bcifilgh Subscribe to unlock
Engine Model
Mbkf mepk Subscribe to unlock
Engine Type
Pjn nmpbk Subscribe to unlock
Pounds of Thrust
Gdeqc Subscribe to unlock
Main Owner
Hb kAjcildqknkelflmmnei eplkbdcjjhqbbdkbpkbqlhkblcmAqlchdgeemkjqpkmlngkAcjcbgf qmhbkeb Subscribe to unlock
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Dec 9, 2018

Classification
Incident

Airline
Southwest Airlines

Flight number
WN-3606

Departure
Seattle, United States

Destination
Dallas Love, United States

Aircraft Registration
N7726A

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-700

ICAO Type Designator
B737

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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