Flying straight through a hurricane sounds like a stunt reserved for action movies and jet fighters. However, commercial passenger flights can and do sometimes fly right across the path of a hurricane. Here’s how they do it safely.
Pexels Big storms normally mean widespread flight cancellations and delays. If the storm features thunder and lightning, all flights in the area will normally be grounded until the bad weather passes. But sometimes, airlines will actually reroute flight plans directly through hurricanes.
The reason is that it’s actually possible to avoid some of the effects of a hurricane if you fly high enough.
Pexels “As far as aviation goes, most tropical systems and hurricanes are, generally, not as tall as traditional thunderstorms,” said meteorologist and pilot James Aydelott to The Points Guy.
Pexels By lifting the plane to high altitudes, pilots can actually sail right over parts of a hurricane without encountering much turbulence. In fact, an Allegiant Air flight recently made headlines by zipping over the top of Hurricane Florence instead of rerouting around the storm like all other flights in the area.
“High above, from all accounts I’ve seen, the ride is smooth. As far as flying goes, there should be no issues flying above a hurricane in an aircraft equipped to monitor radar echo tops,” said Aydelott.
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Big storms normally mean widespread flight cancellations and delays. If the storm features thunder and lightning, all flights in the area will normally be grounded until the bad weather passes. But sometimes, airlines will actually reroute flight plans directly through hurricanes.
The reason is that it’s actually possible to avoid some of the effects of a hurricane if you fly high enough.
“As far as aviation goes, most tropical systems and hurricanes are, generally, not as tall as traditional thunderstorms,” said meteorologist and pilot James Aydelott to The Points Guy.
By lifting the plane to high altitudes, pilots can actually sail right over parts of a hurricane without encountering much turbulence. In fact, an Allegiant Air flight recently made headlines by zipping over the top of Hurricane Florence instead of rerouting around the storm like all other flights in the area.
Of course, no commercial flight will fly right into the eye of a storm. Instead, your plane might charter a course high above the side of a hurricane. Though it doesn’t happen often, this kind of storm-hopping in a passenger plane is perfectly safe.
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