Hold your horses! Loose horse on cargo plane

[visibility3miles]

Plane forced to return to JFK Airport after horse on board gets loosehttps://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/plane-forced-to-return-to-jfk-airport-after-horse-on-board-gets-loose/ar-AA1jW7Bn

In the air traffic control audio, a pilot is heard saying, "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."

[treadigraph]

Was it an appaloosa?

[teeteringhead]

Or a Mustang....... or a Sea Stallion......

[Ninthace]

Could they not get it to Percheron a seat?

[rudestuff]

Mask up and send it off to sleep?

[Ninthace]

Mask up and send it off to sleep?
How are you going to keep it out for the count on the descent. Ever seen a horse wake up? They tend to thrash around a bit.

[Chesty Morgan]

How are you going to keep it out for the count on the descent. Ever seen a horse wake up? They tend to thrash around a bit.
The vet that will be travelling with the horse can give it a sedative. Obviously.

[Expatrick]

Could they not get it to Percheron a seat?

Not if it throws a Suffolk Punch!

[Ninthace]

The vet that will be travelling with the horse can give it a sedative. Obviously.
Do vets routinely travel with horses?

[Ninthace]

Not if it throws a Suffolk Punch!
I am Huntering around for a comeback to that but I am Haflinger lot of trouble finding one!

[Mr Albert Ross]

Sounds like a holiday flight with a difference!

[sealo0]

It’s flying Pony Club Class

[Mr Albert Ross]

Too much White Horse (blended, of course)?

Or too much "Horse's Neck" (2 ounces bourbon, brandy or American rye whiskey; Ginger ale, chilled, to top; Garnish: lemon peel)?

These four-legged holiday flights seem as potentially bad as the two-legged versions...

[Mr Albert Ross]

The vet that will be travelling with the horse can give it a sedative. Obviously.
Could sound like a good idea for holiday flights too!!!

[ETOPS]

can give it a sedative.

Used to to this - carried a .22 humane killer as a "sedative"...:eek:

[Ninthace]

Used to to this - carried a .22 humane killer as a "sedative"...:eek:
Surely no FO deserves that?

[ShyTorque]

Years ago, in Belize, a billy goat got loose in a Puma helicopter. It obviously wanted to disembark, so it was allowed to, from cruise altitude.

[visibility3miles]

Apparently the pilot asked that a vetrinarian be on hand when they landed, implying there was no vet on board.

Obviously, the horse wanted to quit stalling, neigh idea why, but maybe it wanted to bale in order to get more hay.

[jolihokistix]

Stall avoidance problems?

[Big Pistons Forever]

I wonder what the QRH says….

[RichardJones]

Used to to this - carried a .22 humane killer as a "sedative"...:eek:

Indeed

Sad to say I would have ordered the horse killed. Why you ask? That horse could have done enough damage on the loose, to bring that aircraft down, had it gone berserk. I would never fly livestock I.e., cattle and horses, unless the vet had enough sensitive for a pernament, knockout dose.
I believe some of the horses we transported were given a light sensitive before embarkation.

[RichardJones]

Apparently the pilot asked that a vetrinarian be on hand when they landed, implying there was no vet on board.

Obviously, the horse wanted to quit stalling, neigh idea why, but maybe it wanted to bale in order to get more hay.

This calls into question the experience of the crews at some of these outfits, not too mention the safety culture at AAI.

[Falcon99]

Back in the early 1960"s when I was a very junior F/O I was rostered to fly a DC-3 half way across Australia carrying a racehorse. When I signed on I was handed a shotgun and a paper bag full of cartridges, "You know, if it breaks out of it's stall you have to shoot it" I was told., "Can't have it kicking its way through the side of the aircraft." Needles to say the animals handler gave me a dim look as I climbed on board and looked for somewhere to stow the gun.

Due to the long duty period it was a three man crew and I was flying with two Captains. A crew rest bunk had been fitted in the forward cabin just behind the door into the cockpit and next to the stall for the horse. Both Captains made it clear to me as we taxied out that neither of them had any intention of lying in the cabin with a horse, that was to be my place when I wasn't serving them tea and food from a huge hamper that had been supplied. Lying on the bunk my head was next to and at the same level as the horses and we quickly became quite good friends, he had a liking for chocolate cream biscuits of which I had a large supply and it was probably unlikely he would break out of his stall so long as the supply of sandwiches, fruit and biscuits lasted.
I am unable to report if his inflight diet affected his running in the race, but I was able to return the shotgun unused.

[jolihokistix]

Excellent story, F99, many thanks.

[TheEdge]

Back in the early 1960"s when I was a very junior F/O I was rostered to fly a DC-3 half way across Australia carrying a racehorse. When I signed on I was handed a shotgun and a paper bag full of cartridges, "You know, if it breaks out of it's stall you have to shoot it" I was told., "Can't have it kicking its way through the side of the aircraft." Needles to say the animals handler gave me a dim look as I climbed on board and looked for somewhere to stow the gun.

Due to the long duty period it was a three man crew and I was flying with two Captains. A crew rest bunk had been fitted in the forward cabin just behind the door into the cockpit and next to the stall for the horse. Both Captains made it clear to me as we taxied out that neither of them had any intention of lying in the cabin with a horse, that was to be my place when I wasn't serving them tea and food from a huge hamper that had been supplied. Lying on the bunk my head was next to and at the same level as the horses and we quickly became quite good friends, he had a liking for chocolate cream biscuits of which I had a large supply and it was probably unlikely he would break out of his stall so long as the supply of sandwiches, fruit and biscuits lasted.
I am unable to report if his inflight diet affected his running in the race, but I was able to return the shotgun unused.

Loved it thanks !!

[rudestuff]

Do vets routinely travel with horses?
Maybe not a vet but they always had a handler on board for horses at my old airline.

[Jay Doubleyou]

I have a memory from the mid-1960s, at a time when ESSO were running an advertising campaign "put a tiger in your tank", a Balair HP Herald, was transporting a cargo of zoo animals from Switzerland to the UK. At some point a lion got loose and came forward putting its head through the curtains (no door!) into the cockpit! The surprised flight crew asked Brussels ACC for immediate descent and emergency diversion. When asked why, they replied that they had a lion in the cockpit! Brussels required some convincing that it wasn't a joke variant of the tiger in the tank! Flight crew and lion all survived.

[dixi188]

Around 1978 a BAC1-11 (convertable passenger/freighter) of SOAF was carrying two of the Sultan's racing camels. The stalls were made of plywood and the animals were kneeling in them with a lid on so only the heads were sticking out. During the flight one of the camels stood up, breaking out of the stall and did some damage to the roof lining. The loadmaster had a gun but thought it best not shoot the Sultans prize animal as he might be next.
A week later when the camels had to be picked up, some aluminium framing had been used to reinforce the stalls. The damaged roof lining was repaired with speed tape.

[tdracer]

Many years ago, I recall reading an incident report where the pilots heard load, repetitive banging noises and vibrations from below the flight deck and elected to perform and air turn back. Memory says it was an A300, but this is probably a 30+ year old memory so take that with a grain of salt.
Anyway, turns out that there was a caged gorilla in the forward cargo hold, the pre-flight sedative didn't work, and he'd become rather agitated...

[RichardJones]

Many years ago, I recall reading an incident report where the pilots heard load, repetitive banging noises and vibrations from below the flight deck and elected to perform and air turn back. Memory says it was an A300, but this is probably a 30+ year old memory so take that with a grain of salt.
Anyway, turns out that there was a caged gorilla in the forward cargo hold, the pre-flight sedative didn't work, and he'd become rather agitated...

Seems like he went Ape Sh%t.

[Twiglet1]

Groom more like

[stilton]

Around 1978 a BAC1-11 (convertable passenger/freighter) of SOAF was carrying two of the Sultan's racing camels. The stalls were made of plywood and the animals were kneeling in them with a lid on so only the heads were sticking out. During the flight one of the camels stood up, breaking out of the stall and did some damage to the roof lining. The loadmaster had a gun but thought it best not shoot the Sultans prize animal as he might be next.
A week later when the camels had to be picked up, some aluminium framing had been used to reinforce the stalls. The damaged roof lining was repaired with speed tape.


Pretty inhumane to have those poor camels kneeling in their stalls, no wonder they wanted to stand up

[SaulGoodman]

Indeed

Sad to say I would have ordered the horse killed. Why you ask? That horse could have done enough damage on the loose, to bring that aircraft down, had it gone berserk. I would never fly livestock I.e., cattle and horses, unless the vet had enough sensitive for a pernament, knockout dose.
I believe some of the horses we transported were given a light sensitive before embarkation.

I have carried many horses but never had I a veterinarian on board. Always horse grooms, never a vet. Actually transport by air is relatively relax for horses compared by road transport. But horses are strong and wild animals. They could break out of their stalls and might quite easily get severely wounded during their break out. I wouldn’t be surprised if the vet was requested to tend for the horse instead of putt it down. Even a horse that is loose on the main deck could not do much damage to the primary flight controls and main systems necessary for safe operation of the flight.

[Self loading bear]

If I understand correctly from other forums the horse tried to jump the gate in front of him (this gate is not full height but allows the horses head to stick out and eat from a bale of hay). Apparently it got stuck on the gate with its front legs.

No trashing around.
They returned to try to save / tend to the horse.
But unloading other cargo took quite long.
When the horses stable was finally unloaded and the horse could be freed, it was determined that the horse could not be saved and it was decided to be put down.

I can imagine in such case a leg can be broken or the horse cannot properly breath when it hangs with it chest on the gate.