A cargo worker at the Little Rock National Airport has reportedly found 45 human heads and skulls in one of its cargos.
A Southwest plane - Photo by : ALAMY
Later investigation revealed that the skull parts and heads were on their way to the medical laboratory in Fort Worth to help train neurosurgeons
A spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines, who’s employee found the cargo last Wednesday said “As you might imagine, this is not something our cargo employees see on an everyday basis,”
“Although it is common to transport human specimens for medical purposes, a longstanding Southwest cargo customer attempted to transport a shipment without following policies in relation to labelling, packaging, and properly declaring the contents,”
Coroner Garland Camper said “They were basically in plastic containers with lids that are not air-sealed, they were duct-taped with minimal information to disclose what was inside.”
The cargo was allegedly opened by the cargo worker after the boxes containing the heads and skulls were not labeled properly, prompting the employee to open the boxes so he can describe what the container was holding on the box himself.
After the startling discovery the Southwest Airlines employee alerted a supervisor who then informed the local authorities and the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to airport authorities, transporting body parts with planes are common, usually for medical research but in this case the boxes were not labeled properly.
According to aviation agency investigators, the Arkansas company which the boxes belonged to had not broken any federal laws involving the transportation of hazardous materials.
However there is an investigation regarding whether the company was operating legally.
There was initial fears that the heads and skulls were going to be used in the black market and Camper, the Pulaski Country coroner said “We definitely want to make sure this is not a part of something like that,”
