Neigh-sayers will say it ain’t true … but a jumbo jet really did make an emergency landing when a horse broke free from its cargo hold, 30,0000 feet in the air.
The Air Atlanta Icelandic 747 was bound for Belgium on November 9 when pilots were forced to divert back to NYC’s JFK airport once they realized the horse was out of his pen, and loose in the cargo hold.
In the cockpit audio, obtained by “You Can See The ATC,” you can hear the pilot telling air traffic control they’ve got a horse making a break for it. He said, “We are a cargo plane with a live animal, a horse, on board. The horse has broken out of its stall.”
While flying wasn’t an issue, they doubled down on the urgency to return to the Big Apple because they couldn’t re-secure the horse while flying, so they’d have to head back — which required dumping 20 tons of fuel to avoid losing horsepower.😄🐴
Once on stable ground, the pilots requested the aid of a veterinarian for their unsettled passenger. They described the horse as being “in difficulty,” but didn’t state the exact nature of the issue.
As of now, it is unclear whether the equine escape was an attempt at greener pastures or just hoofing it for the thrill. BTW, the flight to Belgium did eventually resume … once things were reined in.
