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Delta Goes Big, Then Goes Home

flightradar24.com

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Re: Delta Goes Big, Then Goes Home

#101

Post by jacquesm »

capkutay wrote: post #72
rando444 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hurricanes aren't really difficult to fly through since the air moves horizontally, and is mostly predictable, it doesn't really affect the flight much. Takeoff and landing are the major problem areas. Thunderstorms, however, are much more difficult to fly through, because the air is moving vertically in an unpredictable fashion.

Yeah but what if they couldn't take off in time? Those pilots/crew would suddenly be stuck on an island weathering one of the most powerful hurricanes in history.

Recorded history.

Re: Delta Goes Big, Then Goes Home

#102

Post by SeoxyS »

jacquesm wrote: post #101
capkutay wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but what if they couldn't take off in time? Those pilots/crew would suddenly be stuck on an island weathering one of the most powerful hurricanes in history.

Recorded history.

This raises an interesting point. Do you know how long we've been accurately recording cyclones?

Re: Delta Goes Big, Then Goes Home

#103

Post by Jare »

what_ever wrote: post #92
narvind wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if there were really any passengers disembarking in San Juan. I would guess that it was pretty much an empty flight flying in. What a heroic effort! Salute to the entire team!

There were 30 people on the flight to San Juan.

Each one of them must be quite a story. Being in San Juan despite the danger must have been very important for most, and they almost were unable to make it.

Re: Delta Goes Big, Then Goes Home

#104

Post by bluesnowmonkey »

jacquesm wrote: post #101
capkutay wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but what if they couldn't take off in time? Those pilots/crew would suddenly be stuck on an island weathering one of the most powerful hurricanes in history.

Recorded history.

History already means recorded. Anything before records exist is called prehistoric.

Re: Delta Goes Big, Then Goes Home

#105

Post by turbohedgehog »

SeoxyS wrote: post #94

Two points: 1) Hurricanes are actually harmless to planes. The only part of the flight that includes any danger is landing, due to wind and low visibility. But flying at cruising altitude or even through the storm is fairly harmless, as most winds are horizontal and nothing out of the ordinary for a plane. Keep in mind that the NOAA regularly flies commercial jets (such as a Gulfstream V) into hurricanes. Also keep i…

1) No they're not harmless, updrafts and downdrafts exist

https://www.wunderground.com/resources/education/hugo1.asp

Re: Delta Goes Big, Then Goes Home

#106

Post by collinmanderson »

omegant wrote: post #89

Commercial pilot here, currently flying transatlantic routes. I avoided Irma last week while flying to Buenos Aires (it was not this big yet). I have partners in San Juan at this moment, bunkered in the hotel. We see this as a crazy move, very well executed, but too risky for the plane itself (not so much for the crew). Let me explain, the metar and tafors (the airport meteorological reports we use) during the flight…

Amazing. Anyone have a video of the flight path with radar?

Re: Delta Goes Big, Then Goes Home

#107

Post by snowwrestler »

Jare wrote: post #103
what_ever wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There were 30 people on the flight to San Juan.

Each one of them must be quite a story. Being in San Juan despite the danger must have been very important for most, and they almost were unable to make it.

Perhaps disaster response folks pre-positioning. Red Cross, etc.

Re: Delta Goes Big, Then Goes Home

#108

Post by turbohedgehog »

deskamess wrote: post #19
hapless wrote: post #7

The best part is that the hurricane's tailwind shaved 40-odd minutes off the itinerary.

To me the hurricane tailwind (blowing South) appeared to be against the direction of flight (heading North)... but the flight arrived early so I must not be parsing that right.

the upper level winds are actually a high pressure area and thus flow clockwise, giving it a northerly boost at that level

Re: Delta Goes Big, Then Goes Home

#109

Post by thecrazyone »

SeoxyS wrote: post #94

Two points: 1) Hurricanes are actually harmless to planes. The only part of the flight that includes any danger is landing, due to wind and low visibility. But flying at cruising altitude or even through the storm is fairly harmless, as most winds are horizontal and nothing out of the ordinary for a plane. Keep in mind that the NOAA regularly flies commercial jets (such as a Gulfstream V) into hurricanes. Also keep i…

Thanks for the context. The other comments make it feel like this was extremely risky. Like "moving spacecrafts through closing doors".

You give it more context

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