Woman Takes Her Miniature Service HORSE on Flight

[rookiepilot]

https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel ... re-article

[Zaibatsu]

Cool!

[PilotDAR]

'Helps to keep the flight stable.

[digits_]

And this is actually a genuine service animal? Makes the story even better!

[valleyboy]

Must of been a stud

[corethatthermal]

I have grown sooo fond of my baby hippopotamus that I can't dare to leave her when I travel! She is better suited to first class and does like the occasional spritzer !

[mixturerich]

Where does it end

[5x5]

Where does it end

Like any other slippery slope, not in a good place.

[Zaibatsu]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope

[golden hawk]

The TAF for the flight was light 'rein', which 'saddled' the pilots with extra work; they had to 'hoof' it to arrive on time.

[PilotDAR]

As a crew member, knowing the regulations for securing objects of mass, I would feel intimidated trying to assure compliance for the safety of the cabin occupants, in securing a horse. I wonder which prevails, the right of a passenger to be accompanied by an animal, or the right of other passengers to ride in a cabin where all items of mass are secured by an approved means? It'd be one thing being hit by an unsecure horse during turbulence, it would be another thing yet when the horse decided that it had to exit your lap really quickly!

[Zaibatsu]

Truthfully. Have you seen some of the human passengers on airplanes? Many of them weigh alot more than this horse and many of them are worse behaved.

[5x5]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope

Ouch!!!! I was so upset when I read this it was really fortunate that my emotional support ostrich happened to walk in to the room. I was just about to enter a really deep funk and who knows what could have happened then. She's the perfect height and her feathers are soooo silky and calming.

[corethatthermal]

Should a 350+ pounder ( human) be allowed on board an aircraft, since the person in front shall become the target of the projectile in the event of an accident?
Will the airlines of the future be mandated to provide a section for "service friends" ( animals) AND another for "mass blessed" folks ( obese humans) ?

[PilotDAR]

Should a 350+ pounder ( human) be allowed on board an aircraft, since the person in front shall become the target of the projectile in the event of an accident?

My overseers have told me that it's too politically sensitive, so we don't discuss people's mass. At the very least, I like Southwest Airlines approach, which is to prohibit the use of seatbelt extensions in exit rows - it's a start. I approve seats and seatbelts to the specified design requirement, no more. Yet anything else I approved for restraint in an aircraft is approved to the actual mass, and that becomes a limitation to be abided by by the pilot.

I don't object to anyone/anything being carried in a plane, as long as the restraint of the person/item/animal is appropriate to the possible crash loads. The common crash load requirement for most older airplanes is 9G forward load. I can state from personal experience that my 190 pound body can rip a seatbelt out of a 9G certified plane. If I had been twice the weight, I would have had half the restraint. And aircraft can be designed and approved to carry people/items of mass greater than the standards specify, it's commercial will (or flying public's concern).

[corethatthermal]

being hit by an unsecure horse during turbulence

NEVER in my life have I been concerned about this very possibility but now I must add it to my travelling concerns and check for Horses belted up behind me ! BTW, I have never seen either an announcement addressing how to belt up a horse OR seen a horse - specific harness system in an airplane, perhaps I don't get out often enough !

[digits_]

being hit by an unsecure horse during turbulence

NEVER in my life have I been concerned about this very possibility but now I must add it to my travelling concerns and check for Horses belted up behind me ! BTW, I have never seen either an announcement addressing how to belt up a horse OR seen a horse - specific harness system in an airplane, perhaps I don't get out often enough !

That's ok, just read the safety briefing card. Only a matter of time before it is addressed in there.

[corethatthermal]

That's ok, just read the safety briefing card. Only a matter of time before it is addressed in there.

Thats HorseShit ! in the aisle by seat 14 E !

[corethatthermal]

There is Steward, Stewardess and Stewardit! OR in the proper PC wording, Flight attendant Flight attendant and Flight attendant !

[youhavecontrol]

I for one think a miniature service horse sounds awesome. As long as the animal can be secure during the flight, I don't see any harm in it... No worse than a dog, really. Sounds like it was a legit need with the necessary precautions taken. How many kids would have delighted to see a miniature pony on board their plane! Probably distracted some of the other passengers from the claustrophobia of flight and made their day too.

If it's a legit need, the animal and its waste can be contained, and the animal is not going to lose its mind or bother passengers or stink on the flight, I don't care what people bring... even if it sounds crazy and makes old people complain about the state of the world. Bring your support Emu. I don't care.