1989 Hurricane Hunters NOAA 42 incident

Following the 1943 Surprise Hurricane, the National Hurricane Center began doing routine reconnaissance missions into hurricanes, known as "Hurricane Hunter" missions. Among the planes used was a WP-3D Orion serviced by the NOAA and nicknamed Kermit (callsign N42RF). In 1989, this plane had been deployed to Barbados alongside another WP-3D Orion as part of a research experiment coordinated by the Hurricane Research Division. Leading up to 1989, only one plane had crashed in the Atlantic during a reconnaissance flight: Snowcloud Five in 1955, which flew into Hurricane Janet at and crashed in the eyewall with a loss of all 11 passengers (though there had been several other crashes in the Western Pacific). Crew The crew consisted of: • Aircraft Commander Lowell Genzlinger • Pilot Gerry Mckim • Flight Director Jeff Masters • Flight Engineer Steve Wade • Navigator Sean White • Radio Operator Tom Nunn • Systems Engineers Al Goldstein and Terry Schricker • Radar Technician Neil Rain • Lead Scientist Frank Marks • Radar Scientist Peter Dodge • Doppler Radar Scientist Bob Burpee • Air-Sea Scientist Pete Black • Dropsonde Scientist Hugh Willoughby • Observer Jim McFadden • Reporter Janice Griffith of the Barbados Sun == Incident ==

According to the latest satellite estimates at the time of the flight, Hurricane Hugo was believed to be at Category 3 strength. Thus it was decided that the first reconnaissance mission into the storm would fly in at 1,500 feet (460 m) to study the low-level environment (such a move had been done earlier in the year with Hurricane Gabrielle) while another mission would fly at 20,000 feet (6,100 m) to study the large-scale environment. Takeoff went without any issues and the plane easily climbed to . After takeoff, the plane's belly radar failed, depriving the crew of valuable data on the strength of the storm, but it was fixed after 20 minutes. This problem, however, left only 5 minutes to examine the radar before they had to begin the descent. Flight director Dr. Jeff Masters briefly examined the radar and determined that the storm was still likely Category 3 strength and went through with the descent. As they began to fly through the rainbands, the turbulence in the storm was not unusual and as they approached the eyewall the winds fell to unusually low values making the crew believe the storm was actually weaker than a Category 3, so they decided go ahead and fly in at , but plan on ascending to if it got too rough. In reality, they had failed to notice that the eyewall was maxing out the radar at multiple points, a sign of a much stronger storm. But right before they entered the eye, dark clouds reconsumed the plane and 3 consecutive heavy drafts of wind hit the plane causing it to begin a dive toward the ocean and the life rafts to break loose, hitting the ceiling of the plane and permanently denting it while other drawer locks on equipment failed causing everything from soda cans to tapes to hit the ceiling and rain down on the crew. It was at this point that the crew made it to the eye. The violent winds created in the eyewall had enormous g-forces on the plane reaching +5.8 g's and -3.7 g's, far greater than it was built to withstand. A damage inspection showed that the strong winds in the eyewall caused the number 3 engine to overheat and catch fire (meaning it had to be shut off) and the deicing boot on the number 4 engine to start detaching. To avoid overworking the three remaining engines, the pilots orbited the center of Hugo for an hour within the eye while bringing the plane to a gradual ascent. After finishing dumping, Teal 57, an Air Force C-130 reconnaissance plane, arrived in the storm flying at . The crew of this flight flew down to and did multiple passes around NOAA 42 to look for any other outside damage, finding none. Teal 57 then began to penetrate the eyewall to find a safe passage for NOAA 42 to fly out of. NOAA 43 also arrived at , but NOAA 42 was unable to climb that high from their damaged engine. The eastern and southern parts of the eyewall were found to not be safe, but on the third pass made by Teal 57 they found a safe spot in the northeast side. NOAA 42 was able to climb to an altitude of before departing the eye via the northeast eyewall safely (losing the deicing boot in the process). Afterwards, Teal 57 departed to continue their mission while NOAA 43 followed NOAA 42 back to base as it landed safely at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados with no further incidents. Miraculously, there were no injuries on the flight. == Investigation ==

The investigation conducted by the NOAA found that the sensor on the fuel control unit of the number 3 engine could not regulate the amount of fuel flowing to the engine, resulting in too much fuel flowing to the engine and causing it to catch fire. The turbulence encountered by NOAA 42 was not a factor in the engine fire. The investigation also found that the eyewall of Hurricane Hugo contained mesovortices (small tornado-like areas with extremely strong winds) which was a weather phenomenon never before seen in hurricanes. The researchers were unaware of the mesovortices present due to the belly radar failing before entering the eyewall (they could not check the updated weather conditions which were changing rapidly) and as a result NOAA 42 flew straight into one. == Aftermath ==

Following this mission, aircraft from the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would continue to penetrate the eye of Hurricane Hugo, doing so 76 times between September 15 and September 22, documenting the location of the storm's center roughly once every two hours. The data collected by NOAA 42 on Hurricane Hugo led to improvements in reporting of weather forecasts and predicting a hurricane's path and intensity. == In popular culture ==

The incident was featured in season 13, episode 6 of the Canadian television series Mayday titled "Into the Eye of the Storm". == References ==