The incident occurred shortly after takeoff from New York’s JFK airport, prompting the Boeing 747, operated by the specialized charter airline Air Atlanta Icelandic, to divert back from Boston to its origin. The flight was originally en route to Liege, Belgium.

A video reconstruction of the incident, shared on the “You can see ATC” YouTube channel (though its information cannot be independently verified), alleges that the incident, on flight number CC4592, occurred just after 4:06 p.m. local time (GMT 2106) on November 9.

According to the reconstruction, the pilot notified air traffic control at around 31,000 feet, reporting the horse’s escape and requesting permission to return to New York as attempts to secure the animal were unsuccessful.

Upon landing back at JFK, the pilots, after dumping 20 tons of fuel, sought the assistance of a veterinarian for the distressed horse. The exact nature of the horse’s condition remains unclear. Flightradar24 data indicates that the flight resumed at 6:35 pm local time (11:35 pm GMT) and successfully landed in Liege around 6:49 am local time (5:49 am GMT) on November 10.

While unusual, incidents leading to unscheduled landings are not uncommon in aviation. In a similar vein, a flight in July made an unexpected landing 700 miles away due to a mid-air brawl between passengers. Additionally, in October, a flight bound for Tampa had to return to Panama after an adult diaper was mistaken for a bomb, and in November, an Air New Zealand flight turned back after four hours due to a technical issue.