.
Register for Simon Calder’s complimentary travel newsletter to receive professional tips and cost-saving deals.
Receive Simon Calder’s Travel newsletter.
The flight was forced to return to its original airport when a horse escaped in the cargo area.
The event occurred soon after the plane departed from New York’s JKF airport, causing the Boeing 747 to return to Boston.
The plane, operated by the specialized charter airline Air Atlanta Icelandic, was headed for Liege, Belgium.
A video of the event was posted on YouTube by a channel called ‘You can see ATC’. The accuracy of the information in the video cannot be confirmed, but it states that the incident occurred on flight number CC4592 at approximately 4:06pm local time (9:06pm GMT) on November 9th.
The pilot reported that the horse became loose at approximately 31,000ft. They requested permission to return to New York as the crew was unable to secure the horse.
The airplane pilots returned to JFK airport after releasing 20,000 kilograms of fuel. They also sought the assistance of a veterinarian for a horse that was reported to be experiencing difficulties, although the cause is unknown.
The flight departed at 6:35pm local time (11:35pm GMT) according to Flightradar24. It then arrived in Liege at 6:49am local time (5:49am GMT) on November 10th after approximately six hours.
The Independent has reached out to Air Atlanta Icelandic for a response.
While unexpected landings are frequent, it is uncommon for a flight to be diverted due to this bizarre reason.
In July, a physical altercation among travelers resulted in a flight being diverted 700 miles from its original destination.
In October, a plane headed to Tampa, Florida had to go back to Panama because a diaper was thought to be a bomb. In November, an Air New Zealand flight had to turn around after four hours due to a technical problem.
Source: independent.co.uk
