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Work on the two so-called hurricane hunters has
been staggered over multiple years, ensuring one plane is always
available to track a storm's intensity and path, according to
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
which operates the Florida-based planes.
The retrofit comes at the peak of hurricane season, after the
agency last week predicted fewer storms than normal would affect
the Atlantic region for the rest of the year.
Without $35 million in upgrades, the planes would be obsolete by
2019. The enhancements extend their lifespan to 2030 and improve
fuel efficiency as the planes fly into winds that can exceed 150
miles (240 km) per hour.
“It’s like riding a giant wooden roller coaster,” said Commander
Devin Brakob, a NOAA aircraft specialist who has flown into 15
storms over the past 10 years.
The hurricane hunter aircraft, Lockheed WP-3D Orions built in
1976, have become famous in coastal communities over their
decades of risky missions. Each carries radar, weather sensors
and computers used to track the storm in real time.
Beginning this month, NOAA will install new computers and
electronics systems. Work on their wings would begin next March.
The improvements are part of $310 million in federal aid
following Hurricane Sandy provided to the Department of
Commerce, which funds NOAA. The hurricane hunters help prepare
the eastern and central United States for storms, feeding data
to forecasters at NOAA's National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The planes, stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa on
Florida's west coast, typically alternated 12-hour flights
through an approaching hurricane. Starting next year one of the
hurricane hunters will be available for round-the-clock
operations, with two different flight crews, while the upgrades
are installed on the other plane, said NOAA spokesman David
Hall.
NOAA has never lost a plane during a storm. The closest call was
in 1989, when a hurricane hunter flew into the eye wall of
Hurricane Hugo and two of its four engines shut down after a
problem in the fuel control system.
(Editing by Letitia Stein, Alden Bentley and Eric Walsh)
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