Spencer Pratt/Getty Images
The plane was forced to return to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.
Editor’s note: Sign up unlock the world, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Get the latest news on aviation, food and drink, places to stay and other travel trends.
CNN
—
On November 9, a Boeing 747 plane en route from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to Liege, Belgium, was forced to turn around after a horse became separated in the cargo hold.
The cargo flight, operated by charter airline Air Atlanta Icelandic, was climbing to about 31,000 feet when the flight attendant contacted air traffic control in Boston to report the horse had escaped from its stall.
“There are no problems with the flight (…),” one of the pilots said in an interview. video reconstruction According to YouTube channel You Can See ATC, “it is not safe to retrieve the horse.”
On the recording, air traffic control can be heard returning to JFK Airport and granting the pilot’s request to dump 20 tons of fuel east of Nantucket Island because the plane was too heavy.
The pilot also asked to be seen by a veterinarian upon landing because “the horse is in trouble.”
A representative for Atlanta Icelandair told CNN that the information in the “You Can See ATC” video is correct.
Tracking site flight history FlightRadar24.com After the diversion, the plane was able to take off again about three hours later than scheduled. It landed in Liege at 6:49 a.m. local time on November 10.
While this incident is one of the biggest when it comes to animals escaping on airplanes, animal problems are surprisingly common in the skies.
In October 2023 alone, otter and mouse A bear cub reportedly escaped from baggage on a VietJet flight from Bangkok and caused a commotion, and a bear cub jumped out of its box while passengers were on board a flight from Baghdad to Dubai.you can Watch that video here.
And in April, a South African pilot was forced to make an emergency landing due to an accident. deadly cape cobra I pulled my shirt up – because it wouldn’t be a story about flying animal accidents if you never mentioned them. “Snake on a plane”