Horse gets loose on plane, forces it to turn around, dump fuel near Marthaâs Vineyard

A cargo plane was forced to dump fuel and divert to John F. Kennedy International Airport last week after a horse got loose onboard.

On Nov. 9, a Boeing 747 chartered by Air Atlanta Icelandic took off from the New York airport destined for Belgium. As the plane was over 30,000 feet altitude near Boston, a horse broke free in the cargo hold.

“Yes, sir. We are a cargo plane with a live animal, a horse, onboard,” the pilot told air traffic control, according to audio from the flight posted on YouTube. “The horse has broken out of its stall. We don’t have a problem as of flying-wise, but we need to return, return back to New York. We cannot get the horse back secured.”

The pilot received permission to divert and made a U-turn near the Canadian border.

In order to safely return to JFK, the pilot dumped 20 tons of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean west of Martha’s Vineyard to prepare for landing.

It’s unclear how to horse got loose but the crew asked to have a vet meet the plane back at the airport.

The flight reached its final destination in Liege, Belgium, the next day, according to flight tracking data.

_____