SEATTLE, Washington A U.S. man has nearly lost a chance for a heart transplant here because of a ban on civilian flights introduced in the wake of this week's terrorist attacks, AFP quoted health officials as saying Thursday.

Brian Cortez, 21, was scheduled for transplant surgery Wednesday at the University of Washington Medical Center, when the U.S. military forced down a charter plane that was carrying his replacement heart.

A Navy F-16 fighter jet intercepted the private plane carrying the heart from Anchorage, Alaska, and ordered it to land in Bellingham, Washington, because of a ban on civilian flights by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The navy pilot was apparently not aware the charter jet had special clearance from the FAA.

All civilian air traffic was grounded Tuesday in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon Military Headquarters just outside Washington.

Hijacked civilian aircraft were used in these attacks that have killed an estimated thousands of people.

The forced landing of the plane put Cortez's chances for a life-saving operation in jeopardy because donor hearts are good for transplants only during the first eight hours after their removal from the body, the officials said.

A medical evacuation helicopter was rushed to Bellingham and back to Seattle to retrieve the heart, which was brought to the hospital two hours before the deadline.

"We had an excellent heart transplant," said Doctor Gabriel Aldea. "The surgery went very, very well."