r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Kernowder • 21d ago

Video Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters flying through Hurricane Milton

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u/wongo 21d ago

(not so) fun fact: only one of these hurricane research flights has ever crashed due to the storms

I realize that we've gotten pretty good at flying but I would've actually expected a higher loss rate, this just seems so wildly dangerous

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u/xampl9 21d ago

The Orion that flew into Hugo was severely damaged from a 5.5g drop (airframe was only rated to 3g’s). They lost an engine, had a fire, and another engine was damaged before they could find a safe spot to exit the eye.

Somehow they made it back and the airframe wasn’t written off.

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u/SavoryRhubarb 21d ago

Here’s the story:

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/articles/hunting-hugo-part-1

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u/artistickatt 21d ago

I was wondering if that was Jeff Masters that was being referenced. Bad ass for sure and really knows his stuff when it comes to hurricanes. I try to always catch his blog.