Yesterday I wrote about video of a woman leading her miniature horse out of airport security, and through the airport, on the way to an American Airlines flight to Omaha.
It turns out there’s also video from inside the aircraft. Reportedly the passenger had the whole row to herself so the horse could stand. It wasn’t blocking the legroom of any other passengers.
A passenger takes a small horse on an American Airlines flight to #Omaha Airport 😳 pic.twitter.com/Psw65Tq6FF
— Aviationdaily✈️الطيران يوميآ (@Aviationdailyy) August 30, 2019
It turns out that the horse has a twitter account and shared the story of the flight.
Flirty and I took to the skies, yesterday! It was a great experience and I learned a lot. Flirty was FANTASTIC and handled it all like a pro. That being said, I’m going to keep traveling by car, it’s just easier on Flirty. Flying will be reserved for emergencies and such. https://t.co/AHfHXpoU2V
— Flirty The Mini Service Horse (@FlirtyTheSH) August 30, 2019
They’re apologetic that the horse necessarily pushed up against the seat backs of the passengers in front. An inconvenience, but something toddlers do all the time of course.
Once we got up to cruising altitude, she took a nap and was very quiet. But she had to rebalance quite a bit while ascending and descending and kept bumping the back of their seat through the curtain “bulkhead.”
— Flirty The Mini Service Horse (@FlirtyTheSH) August 30, 2019
It sounds as though the passenger – and the horse – are as respectful of other passengers as possible. The biggest thing is ensuring they have enough space, the whole row to themselves and seats with enough pitch for the horse to fit.
OMG If I have to listen to one more screaming, over indulged kid on an airplane Im going to scream. They pee in the plane, throw food, cry, and shreak!! Give me a dog any day and kick kids off. Kids spread head lice and more. Its awful.
Sarafina, I will just respond to you by saying… “YOU, need serious help”.! period end of discussion!
I was sitting right next to them in the same set of seats on their United flight to O’Hare. I was told she was going to her Grandmother’s funeral. Looks like it was a total PR stunt and she turned around in the same outfit and flew from ORD back to OMA on American.
The man was from inside edition and filming the whole thing. The horse was extremely nervous/anxious in take off and landing. I feel bad for the horse and it was definitely cramped.
This is absolutely ridiculous. I wonder how many safety roles have been broken/disregarded by allowing miniature horse on the plane.
From what I can see, they are sited in in economy plus bulkhead without under the sit storage where FA would not allow any personal items. Here you have a horse that can’t be secured in anyway.
Also, what would happen in the event of emergency evacuation? What if that would be a water landing? This is total disregard of passengers safety (IMHO).
One more thing…
I am not sure this person should be traveling without supervision to begin with.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByQ0rqegwre/?igshid=1cuw9s3s0h90w
@Gary70 – That’s sad. I do feel compassion for the owner (and also for the pony).
Since I wrote my original comment, I’ve learned a lot more about this case and retract what I said, based, as it was, on ignorance. There’s a big difference between a trained service animal and an iffy “emotional support” animal. The horse in this case is the former. While I do suspect there was an element of stuntery to that woman’s flight, if she genuinely needs the horse to perform certain functions while traveling (though I’ve never read what they are), and the ADA and the FAA declare it’s a legally required accommodation, then so be it. I still wouldn’t be super happy about having even the best-behaved size-challenged equine sitting behind me, but maybe that’s just me.
I just wish the horse had passed gas or taken a giant dump right there on the plane, then I bet the comments supporting such stupidity would be nonexistent.
Flirty did pass gas-I was the passenger sitting in the isle seat next to them on their way from Omaha to Chicago. They kept pushing her tail down. They also asked me to watch my feet because she may step on them. I was blown away at how intrusive it was.
I tried to be a good sport, since I didn’t know what service Flirty provided but it seemed more of a PR stunt with the Inside Edition guy along for the ride.
If it was a PR stunt, AA needs a new marketing dept.
Meh – what’s the issue here? Seems that passenger had more horse sense than that guy we read about smoking a joint on a plane. Horses on a plane = OK. Jackasses on a plane = not OK.
Totally missing the point. Airplanes unless specifically designed not supposed to be a ark.