FARGO (KFGO) – An exhibit to commemorate the North Dakota Air National Guard’s famous “Heart Flight” will go on permanent display later this month at the Fargo Air Museum.
The emergency flight took place in Dec. 1986, when an Air National Guard F-4 Phantom, a supersonic fighter, was used to fly an infant’s heart from Fargo to a waiting transplant patient in California.
“It’s something that North Dakota is very proud of. We’ve never had a lasting exhibit for people to see” according to Fargo Air Museum Exective Director Jackie Williams. “A lot of the kids today don’t even know it happened.”
The heart was stored inside a plastic picnic cooler filled with ice. The cooler was strapped to the backseat of the F-4, which was piloted by North Dakota Air National Guard General Bob Becklund. The late Gov. George Sinner authorized the military flight after the original civilian airplane failed to start in the cold weather.
“That heart had been out of the donor body for quite some time, maybe 8 hours or so, which in those days was way longer than had ever been done before and well beyond medical technology at the time” Becklund said.
Williams says the heart recipient, now 33, lives in the San Francisco area.
The exhibit will include the story of the Heart Flight, along with news accounts, photos and paintings. A public dedication ceremony will be held at the Fargo Air Museum Sept. 18.
