OAN Staff Abril Elfi
5:44 PM – Tuesday, October 8, 2024
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Aircraft Operations Center has released footage from a research plane flying directly into Hurricane Milton.
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On the video footage, the view from the passenger side shows the plane flying through rain while “Miss Piggy,” the Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft, violently shakes from heavy turbulence. At least four NOAA researchers were on board the plane.
“Bumpy ride into Hurricane #Milton on @NOAA WP-3D Orion,” the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center wrote on a post on X.
The NOAA Aircraft Operation Center said that the purpose of the trip was to collect data for hurricane research and help improve the storm’s forecast.
In the video footage, Electrical Engineer, Tom Brannigan, is seen sitting at the Airborne Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS) as the plane shakes violently and the turbulence begins to quickly intensifies.
Due to the intense turbulence, a bag tied to a shelf on the plane rotated upside down and spilled all its content to the floor.
“Can you grab my phone real quick?” asks Programs Integration Engineer, Nick Underwood, who was filming the rocky flight.
The turbulence intensifies once more as Brannigan reaches for his colleague’s cell phone, sending the objects flying off a plane shelf.
Underwood’s camera is aimed at the rear of the aircraft, showing a number of items scattered across the ground due to the severe turbulence.
“Damn,” he exclaimed while laughing.
“Holy crap,” Underwood said as he showed another of his colleagues gripping a cooler tightly, so it doesn’t fly away.
“When you get a chance, can you grab my wallet too? Gotta keep these pockets zipped!” Underwood joked.
The researcher then said, “Good God,” and then turned back to the window view, which revealed that the plane had reached clearer skies.
“Our NOAA WP-3D Orion aircraft have been flying into storms for almost 50 years,” said Jonathan Shannon, Public Affairs Specialist for NOAA Aircraft Operations Center.
He continued, saying that these missions are necessary because their scientists “cannot get this important data our forecasters need at this scale and resolution any other way.”
“We basically take a weather station to the weather,” he told The New York Post.
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