Decades after tragedy struck, Hurricane Hunters still risk their lives inside the world’s worst storms
Gathering data from planes inside hurricanes is a dangerous game and 52 lives have been lost since operations began in 1944.
The crew of the NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft had a bumpy ride as they flew through Hurricane Milton on Oct. 8.
The U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron had a rough ride this week in Hurricane Melissa, having to turn back early twice due to unusually strong turbulence. The early return of the second flight, just before the storm made landfall in Jamaica, forced an inspection of the plane's integrity.
Both the Air Force and the U.S. Navy began flying aircraft into hurricanes with the purpose of locating the centers of the storms in 1944. That was one year after a bet in a bar during World War II led to Colonel Joseph Duckworth flying a T-6 Texas aircraft into a storm, calling the bluff of British pilot cohorts who said the plane wouldn't survive such an encounter.
28 hurricane hunters were killed in the next 10 years
The path to recording weather data from within hurricanes, whether visual, via weather instruments dropped from the plane, or later in-plane weather radar, was never without peril. Although every flight was risky, three flights ended in disaster between 1945 and 1953.
During the first year of hurricane hunter operations, a U.S. Navy plane investigating Typhoon Jean over the South China Sea crashed into the ocean on Oct. 1, 1945, killing seven. On Oct. 26, 1952, a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance mission, with a crew of 10, was lost over the Pacific during Super Typhoon Wilma. And during Super Typhoon Doris on Dec. 16, 1953, a U.S. Navy hurricane hunter plane crashed again, killing 11.
'Stormcloud Five' disappears in 1955, the first Atlantic deaths
On the morning of Sept. 26, 1955, a Navy Hurricane Hunter plane named "Stormcloud Five" flew into Hurricane Janet south of Cuba, as part of a routine reconnaissance mission. The storm had already hit Barbados as a major hurricane, causing major damage there, as well as on the islands of Grenada and Carriacou. All told, the storm killed 160 people in the Caribbean.
A Neptune P2V, similar to the Hurricane Hunter plane lost in 1955. (U.S. Navy)
Stormcloud Five departed from Guantanamo Naval Air Station, and at 8:30 a.m. transmitted a message saying they were beginning their first pass of the storm at 700 feet in elevation. Garbled broadcasts were heard soon after, but there was nothing distinguishable, and it wasn't unusual to have interference or transmission interruptions from the heavy rain inside storms.
At 11:30 a.m., the aircraft still hadn't reported in, and the plane wasn't reachable by the Navy base. Search and rescue operations began immediately, but no evidence of the aircraft or nine-man crew was ever found. It was the first, and last, hurricane hunter plane lost in Atlantic waters.
The following recon flight into the storm reported back 160-mph winds, classifying Janet as a Category 5 hurricane. The storm passed over the Swan Islands, where a U.S. Weather Bureau (the precursor to the National Weather Service) station was located. The island took heavy damage from Janet's winds, with everyone on the island taking shelter in the Navy seismic station, the only concrete building on the island.
The next day, Janet struck the Yucatan Peninsula. Chetual and Xcalak, Mexico, were nearly destroyed; hundreds perished. In total, Janet killed over 1,000 people and caused $65 million (1955 USD), which would be nearly $800 million today.
Stickers from past hurricanes are seen on the outside of a NOAA WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter research plane during a media day at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida, on May 6, 2025. (Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP)
15 more lives were lost in the Pacific after Stormcloud Five
Unfortunately, the 1955 tragedy was not the last hurricane hunter plane crash. In January 1958, the Air Force flew a reconnaissance mission into Super Typhoon Ophelia. Southeast of Guam, the plane went down with nine souls aboard. Then on Oct. 12, 1974, contact was lost with a hurricane hunter plane headed into Typhoon Bess' eye to make a second position fix. Six crew members were listed as killed in action.
No further tragedies after 1974
The 1974 crash was the last tragedy to befall the Hurricane Hunters, though a major accident was narrowly avoided during Hurricane Hugo in 1989 when severe downdrafts in the storm caused the right engine to overheat and shut down. Dumping fuel, they barely made it back home, with the aircraft, a NOAA WP-3D Orion, suffering major damage and being grounded for the rest of the hurricane season.
In total, 52 airmen lives were lost in the pursuit of collecting meteorological data in hurricanes, but the efforts continue, with NOAA flying dozens of recon missions into, and above, the storm clouds.
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