A cargo plane was forced to make a U-turn and return to JFK airport in New York after a horse broke free from its stall mid-flight.

The Air Atlanta Icelandic flight 4592 was en route to Liege, Belgium on November 9 when the unusual incident occurred.

As the Boeing 747 reached an altitude of about 31,000 feet, a pilot informed air traffic control that they had an unrestrained horse on board and that it was impossible for the crew to secure the animal. The pilot insisted they had no flying difficulties, but felt it was necessary to return to New York to secure the horse.

Plane forced to return to airport after horse escapes crate https://t.co/igfZHvbxKz

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In a recording posted by, You Can See ATC, the pilot can be heard stating, “We are a cargo plane with a live animal, a horse, on board the airplane. And the horse managed to escape his stall. We don't have a problem as of flying wise but we need to return back to New York. We cannot get the horse back secured.”

After being cleared to reroute, flight data shows the plane made a U-turn off the eastern coast of Canada and began its return journey. However, the crew had to first dump 20 tonnes of fuel over the Atlantic to land safely at JFK, a move that was also communicated to air traffic control.

The manner in which the horse managed to escape is still unknown, and it remained loose until the plane landed at JFK. The crew requested a vet to be on standby due to the animal's distress, as indicated by the audio recording.

Despite the incident, the aircraft successfully completed its journey to Belgium the next day. Air Atlanta Icelandic has not yet commented on the incident.