Air Force Crew Forced Back to Base by Excessive Turbulence in Hurricane Melissa

As Hurricane Melissa hammers the Caribbean, the U.S. Air Force’s “Hurricane Hunters” are busy flying into the massive Category 4 storm to collect atmospheric data—with one experiencing greater-than-expected turbulence Oct. 28. 

The “Hurricane Hunters” are the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, a Reserve unit that flies 10 WC-130J aircraft out of Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. 

In a statement shared to social media, the unit said one of its crews returned to its forward operating location in Curaçao after they “briefly experienced forces stronger than normal during turbulence.” 

It is unclear if the WC-130 suffered any damage during the incident, but “standard safety procedures require an inspection before returning to operations,” the statement read. 

According to open-source flight tracking data, Hurricane Hunters from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have also returned to base early due to heavy turbulence in recent days. 

Prior to the flight that was curtailed by heavy turbulence, the Air Force’s Hurricane Hunters captured striking videos and images in the eye of Hurricane Melissa. More flights are expected in the coming days. 

The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 145 miles per hour, made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm and is slated to hit Cuba next overnight on Oct. 28. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles from the eye, according to the latest NOAA report

Melissa is not forecasted to make landfall on the continental U.S., but the storm has had an impact on some of the growing U.S. military presence in the Caribbean, forcing a few ships to move and family members to be evacuated from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.