An Air Atlanta Icelandic plane from New York's JFK airport was reportedly forced to turn back after a horse broke free in the cargo. While animals have been allowed on flights for a long time - for instance emotional support of guide dogs - this is the first high profile incident involving a horse this year.

The pilot of the charter company's Boeing 747, which had only just begun its journey to Liege, Belgium, was reportedly forced to initiate communication with air traffic control while flying over Boston. In a recording obtained by YouTube channel, You can see ATC, the crew can be heard saying: "We are a cargo plane; we have a live animal … a horse onboard the airplane.

"The horse managed to escape his stall. We don't have a problem flying-wise, but we need to return back to New York; we cannot get the horse back secured."

Transporting live horses on cargo flights is standard practice and fairly common. Typically, horses are carried using specialised containers known as horse boxes, designed for safe and secure travel aboard cargo planes.

These containers are constructed with the safety of the animals in mind, featuring secure locking mechanisms to prevent the horses from getting hurt or escaping. However, it seemingly remains a mystery how this horse managed to somehow break free.

What should have been a routine six-hour flight to Belgium, saw the pilot turn back to New York due to the chaos in the cargo hold. Unfortunately, the plane was too heavy to land, so was instructed to dump a whopping 20 tonnes of jet fuel before touching back down in New York.

This practice is known as jettisoning and is done because planes take off at a weight which would be unsafe to land at. Dumping fuel is a way to quickly reduce weight to a safe landing threshold, minimising the risk of runway overrun and structural damage to the aircraft as it touches down.

While the plane was dumping fuel, the pilots reportedly asked for a vet to be called to meet the aircraft upon its arrival at JFK. Once the plane touched down, the pilots repeated that they needed assistance because the horse was in "difficulty".

There has been no update on how the horse is now. Air Atlanta Icelandic has been approached for comment.