Terrifying footage of research plane flying directly into Hurricane Milton reveals what it's really like inside the storm
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: Twitter/@NOAA_HurrHunter
When it comes to places you shouldn't fly a plane, 'into the middle of a hurricane' is probably quite high on the list.
But that doesn't stop the brave folks who study the weather in the US from doing just that, as terrifying footage shows.
The clip shows an aircraft from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Aircraft Operations Center flying into Hurricane Milton.
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Such operations are frequently carried out by the organisation to carry out scientific research directly from the centre of severe weather.
Aircrafts will collect data to help improve the forecast for the storm as well as inform our knowledge about hurricanes for the future.
The planes are effectively a mobile weather station and can take all manner of readings right from the midst of the action.
NOAA Aircraft Operations Center public affairs specialist Jonathan Shannon told the New York Post: “Our NOAA WP-3D Orion aircraft have been flying into storms for almost 50 years."
Shannon explained that the flights are important as scientists 'cannot get this important data our forecasters need at this scale and resolution any other way.'
He added: "We basically take a weather station to the weather."
As for the actual experience of flying itself, needless to say it makes the average turbulence on a commercial flight look like a walk in the park in comparison.
Shannon said: “The best analogy I’ve heard is it is like riding an old wooden roller coaster through a car wash.”
Nonetheless, the crew on board this flight were all calm as they collected their data as their plane was buffeted about by the storm.
The video shows inside the aircraft, with things being tossed about inside the cabin.
It was shot by Programs Integration Engineer Nick Underwood, who can be heard to ask “Can you grab my phone real quick?”
He added: “When you get a chance, can you grab my wallet too? Gotta keep these pockets zipped!”
The video was tweeted out by the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center with the caption: "Bumpy ride into Hurricane #Milton on @NOAA WP-3D Orion #NOAA43 "Miss Piggy" to collect data to help improve the forecast and support hurricane research."
People were left impressed by the team's dedication to helping predict the weather.
One wrote: "It has always been amazing to me that we have planes that can safety fly into and through the strongest and most turbulent parts of the strongest hurricanes."
Another wrote: "Impressive work by the pilots and crews on board!"
A third said what many of us might be thinking, joking: "I am no longer nervous about commercial turbulence."