Did anyone read the article regarding the loose horse on the flight to Belgium?
I read it was headed to a competion for the LGCT. Feel bad for the horse and whoever owned him.
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Where did you see that? I haven’t seen anything about that, and I’ve read a bunch of articles about it.
Terribly sad, regardless.
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It was in one of the articles I read. Such a sad situation for all.
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Unfortunately it sounds like the horse had to be euthanized. Similar situation to when one attempts to jump out of a manger in a trailer. Horrible
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Yes, according to this more detailed article from CNN, unfortunately the horse had to be euthanized due to its injuries.
I just have not seen anything anywhere that mentioned whether it was a show jumper or some other kind of horse.
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Oh my gosh, that just guts me. What a horrific situation.
Does anyone who has flown horses know if the horses ever get any pre-flight “cocktails” to settle into the flight? Or are most perfectly agreeable without meds?
Wondered how similar the flying was to trailering. On the inside, looking at the boxes etc., it looks pretty darn close.
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Its very much like a trailer. And I am sure its better now than it was in 1990 when I flew home with the horses from the World Cup in Dortmund, Germany. I don’t think they are routinely sedated, but I remember one on our flight had to get something along the way. All of the rest of them were fine
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Well if they are heading to a competition, probably not, due to FEI drug rules.
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The article also stated that the plane was too heavy to land so it dumped fuel east of Nantucket. I am just flabbergasted; I had no idea we just straight up pour jet fuel into the ocean.
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There’s a post in Off Course.
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Same.
Although one of the articles I read made it sound like the fuel mostly disintegrates before it gets to the ground. Or the ocean, in this case.
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Jet fuel dissipates long before it can touch anything unless the plane is stupid low. Then they have more important issue
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It was a racehorse.
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Like they said, it’s done at a high enough altitude that it freezes and dissipates looking before it hits the ocean. It took 20 minutes to dump so it’s not like it’s at one spot.
Also, even with that weight trimming, that plane barely kept it on the runway. The pilot was apologizing for missing his assigned crossing lanes, saying he was just so heavy. He was at the end of the runway when he’s finally stopped and turned, so they don’t take dumping fuel lightly, but a plane is not designed to land on a full fuel load. If they tried, my guess is a lot more than one horse would be lost…
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Poor thing. Young and panicking. Vey sad.
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From the same article:
In October 2023 alone, an otter and a rat were reported to have caused uproar after escaping from hand luggage on a VietJet flight from Bangkok, while a bear cub broke loose from its crate on a flight from Baghdad to Dubai while passengers were on board. You can watch that video here.
And a South African pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in April after a deadly Cape cobra slithered up his shirt.
Otters and rats are one thing; I wouldn’t necessarily enjoy having either as a seat mate, but bears and cobras? Oh hell no. I’m with Indiana Jones on that.
Props to the pilot of the cobra plane for keeping himself together enough to land the plane. I’d probably have passed out from terror.
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I remember reading about the cobra story - it was insane. They saw a cobra slither into the plane, tried to find it, didn’t see it, so they took off. Then it appears on the pilot mid-flight. They land, dissemble the plane, can’t find it…and two days later, the pilot flies off in the plane again.
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