Plane Forced To Return To Airport After A Horse Got Loose On Board Transatlantic Flight

On November 9, a Boeing 747 cargo plane flying from New York to Belgium had to return to John F. Kennedy International Airport after a horse got out of its stall.

The time of departure was 4:06 p.m. ET. The horse got out of its stall within a half hour of takeoff.

The plane’s pilot said: “We are a cargo plane with a live animal, a horse, on board. The horse managed to escape its stall. There’s no issue with flying, but we need to go back to New York as we can’t resecure the horse.”

The flight needed to make a U-turn and dump approximately 20 tons of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean because of the flight’s weight.

“Attention all aircraft, fuel dumping in approximately 10 miles west of Martha’s Vineyard at FL220, turning eastbound, by Heavy 747,” confirmed the controller of Boston Center.

During the fuel dump, the pilot said: “I do believe we need a vet… veterinarian, I guess you call it, for the horse upon landing. Is that something you can speak to New York about?”

The controller responded: “Atlanta 4592, I’ll pass that on.”

As soon as the plane landed, the controller in the airport’s air traffic control tower asked if the flight needed help.

The pilot replied, “On the ground, negative. On the ramp, yes, we have a horse in problem.”

It has not yet been determined how the horse managed to escape.

FlightRadar24 confirmed that the flight was finally allowed to take off a little while later and successfully arrive at Liege Airport on the morning of November 10.