6 of the Most Harrowing Flights in Hurricane Hunter History

Hurricane hunting serves a very important purpose – to save lives and property through better forecasts from the National Hurricane Center. But sometimes, these flights put lives of meteorologists, flight crew, media and pilots in danger.

The Hurricane Hunters have gone more than 40 years without fatalities, but that streak hasn't always been as long.

1. Hurricane Hugo, 1989

The NOAA Hurricane Hunters, including Weather Underground's Dr. Jeff Masters, were expecting to fly into a 130-mph hurricane in 1989. What they actually flew into was a 185-mph major hurricane with extreme turbulence and gusts nearing 200 mph.

This P-3 flight penetrated the eyewall 3,500 feet lower than recommended for a hurricane of Hugo's intensity. Intense downdrafts pushed the plane down to 880 feet, took out one engine and nearly took out another engine on the same wing.

It looked like a Category 5 on the inside of the plane when the crew finally reached Hugo's calm center. Everything that was even remotely loose was tossed across the cabin, landing in piles knee- to waist-deep. A 200-pound life raft was thrown around like a missile, putting a 1-inch dent into a steel handrail.

Masters wrote in his blog at the time:

"The cockpit G-meter shows we took five-and-a-half Gs up and three-and-a-half Gs down," continues Lowell, now sounding really concerned. "The P-3 is only rated to plus three and minus two Gs, so we may have some serious structural damage. We'll have to climb as high as we can and find a part of the eyewall to exit through with a minimum of turbulence.

"Five-and-a-half Gs!" I exclaim, looking at Pete in amazement and trepidation. No hurricane hunter aircraft has ever taken more than three Gs. We are lucky to be alive."

A "G" is the force of gravity, with positive or up Gs meaning you are being pulled toward the ground, and negative or down Gs being the feeling of weightlessness. The topic of Gs is usually brought up with roller coasters or space launches. Extreme Gs can be deadly to humans and extremely destructive to aircraft.

It took two additional aircraft and some brave crew members to get the battered plane, one engine down, out of Hugo's eye. Luckily, the team found a weak spot at 7,000 feet in the immense eye wall and returned to Barbados safely.

(MORE: Read All About Masters' Hugo Flight)

Hurricane Hugo went on to kill 49 people, including 21 in the United States. At the time, Hugo was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history, causing $7 billion in damage in the U.S. and $2.5 billion internationally.

2. Typhoon Bess, 1974

A Hurricane Hunter flight in 1974 proved deadly. An Air Force WC-130 with six men aboard presumably crashed into the South China Sea. The bodies and the plane were never recovered.

Bess crossed over the northern Philippines island of Luzon with typhoon-force winds, killing 26 and causing $9.2 million in damage. Bess dissipated after passing south of Hong Kong and landing in northern Vietnam, but not before bringing tropical storm force winds to the mainland of China.

3. Hurricane Janet, 1955

Sixty-one years ago, Navy Reconnaissance flight Snowcloud Five left Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and never returned to base. During the next flight, Hurricane Janet was found to be a major hurricane with winds of 160 mph. Winds were likely lighter but still very strong during Snowcloud Five's flight.

Radio communication between the Guantanamo Naval Air Station and the plane was lost as the crew was entering Janet from 700 feet — thousands of feet lower than is recommended for a storm of this magnitude. Several garbled radio attempts were made after the penetration attempt, but no audio was clear.

Janet went on to make landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula and mainland Mexico, bringing torrential rainfall, flooding and mudslides to the area. More than 1,000 people were killed and $65 million in damage was done.

(MORE: Hurricane Janet Takes 11 Navy Hurricane Hunter Lives)

4. Hurricane Patricia, 2015

Hurricane Patricia was the strongest hurricane on Earth, based on known records, with sustained winds peaking at 215 mph. The NOAA Hurricane Hunters recorded extremely low pressure, a reading of 879 millibars, with Patricia continuing to deepen after that. Patricia's minimum central pressure was 872 millibars, a record for the Western Hemisphere.

NOAA Hurricane Hunter crews experienced extreme updrafts and downdrafts, according to their Facebook page. They went through a rapid change between 3.0G (or 3 times the force of gravity) and -1.5G (weightlessness) in the eyewall roller coaster. At the level the flight crews were flying, winds were estimated to be around 220 mph.

Patricia weakened before landfall in a sparsely populated area of Mexico, but caused an estimated $325 million in damage. There was severe flooding in the mountainous terrain of southern Mexico.

5. Where It All Started – Texas, 1943

Hurricane hunting began with a bet. In 1943, pilots taking part in flight training using instrument panels ribbed their instructor into betting on their new flight training, as flying exclusively with instruments was introduced in the 1940s.

With a hurricane rolling ashore near Galveston, Texas, the instructor bet the trainees that he could fly into the hurricane and back just using the instrument technique, proving its worth. Pilot and instructor Col. Joe Duckworth and navigator Lt. Ralph O'Hair took to fly through the hurricane.

Without official support, the pair flew into the hurricane between 4,000 and 9,000 feet. They accidently pierced the nine- to 10-mile-wide eye of this hurricane as it moved ashore.

Two turbulent flights were flown into that hurricane by Duckworth, but in the end, O'Hair had enough with just one flight and never flew into another hurricane again. The bet was won by Duckworth.

Insured losses from this hurricane totaled $11 million, but given that the Great Depression had recently ended and people likely could not afford insurance, this damage toll is likely understated. Nineteen people were killed, and parts of eastern Texas flooded.

6. Hurricane Irene, 2011

In its infancy, Hurricane Irene in 2011 passed through the Caribbean and over St. Croix. Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, located in St. Croix, is used by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron – also known as the Air Force Hurricane Hunters – to extend their surveillance into the central Atlantic.

Irene crossed over St. Croix as a tropical storm at the perfect time for clear skies to open for takeoff. The Hurricane Hunters headed north-northeast to climb to the altitude needed for safe weather observations.

Irene's eye structure was wide enough to support a takeoff from the island. Irene brought sustained winds of 43 mph to St. Croix, and gusts to 72 mph at Christiansted Harbor in St. Croix within three hours of takeoff. According to the NHC, Irene made landfall on the island with sustained winds of 70 mph.

With rotating winds of a tropical storm, the chance of crosswinds at takeoff are high, and it's likely that this mission would have been delayed or canceled if the timing was slightly different.

The Hurricane Hunters' first observation from the center of Irene on this flight, called a vortex data message, was just 20 miles to the northwest of St. Croix as Irene was moving away from the island.

Irene would later bring devastating impacts closer to home. The hurricane was responsible for 49 deaths, including 41 in the United States. Widespread damage was reported from North Carolina to New England. Flooding was catastrophic in Vermont, and three towns in upstate New York were uninhabitable.