High horses: Flight carrying 52 stallions makes emergency landing

A cargo flight from Miami to Amsterdam had to make an emergency landing in Ireland.

The Martin Air service, which was carrying over 50 horses, declared an emergency after warning lights in the cockpit indicated there may be a fire onboard, and that one of the cargo doors had opened.

The pilots saddled with the responsibility of getting all of those on board made contact with air traffic control advising them they didn't know if any door had opened or what may have happened to the horses.

"We have six people on board, and 52 horses. We have an indication of an open cargo door, so we don't know what the consequences of that may be." 

KLM Cargo, which was operating the flight, frequently provide horse transportation services.

Shannon Airport notified emergency services of the inbound emergency so they could be in place near the runway when the flight landed.

Vets were also put on stand-by, authorities hoping the warnings were false, and the nightmare situation of horses falling from the aircraft hadn't eventuated.

When the 747 aircraft landed it was checked for any signs of fire or lost cargo, but fire was found and no horses had been injured.

The horses have now been flown to their destination in the Netherlands.

Newshub.