Nightmare In The Sky: Hurricane Hunter Shares Harrowing Footage From Inside Ian
It’s not exactly flying the friendly skies.
NOAA engineer and hurricane hunter Nick Underwood shared footage from inside the special aircraft used to track, measure and analyze storms as it flew inside Hurricane Ian.
Early in the video, equipment that had been tied down jolts loose. Beds spill onto the floor. And by the end, there’s a hellish amount of lightning outside the windows of the Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft, nicknamed Kermit:
When I say this was the roughest flight of my career so far, I mean it. I have never seen the bunks come out like that. There was coffee everywhere. I have never felt such lateral motion.
— Tropical Nick Underwood (@TheAstroNick) September 28, 2022
Aboard Kermit (#NOAA42) this morning into Hurricane #Ian. Please stay safe out there. https://t.co/DQwqBwAE6vpic.twitter.com/gvV7WUJ6aS
Underwood also posted some still photos of the damage inside the aircraft that was caused by the extreme turbulence:
Aftermath of the galley. pic.twitter.com/YsomJw2J5f
— Tropical Nick Underwood (@TheAstroNick) September 28, 2022
As the footage went viral, Underwood answered some of the most common questions he received about the flight and his job:
1. We fly these missions to collect critical data on the storm.
— Tropical Nick Underwood (@TheAstroNick) September 29, 2022
2. Aircraft is a WP-3D made for NOAA in the 1970s.
3. Everyone is strapped in, and we tie down/stow everything best we can.
4. Yes my Adidas sneaker flies up beside me.
5. Sorry I can’t answer every question. https://t.co/4rdj5NTpHm
Philippe Papin of the National Hurricane Center also tweeted about the importance of these flights:
Just want to say how appreciative we are at NHC of @NOAA_HurrHunter & @53rdWRS for tremendous efforts they provide to get us critical data.
— Philippe Papin (@pppapin) September 28, 2022
Their morning flights in extreme turbulence provided necessary data making #Ian a 135 kt Cat 4 hurricane on the 11z special advisory today. https://t.co/11nQOambD1