2024 Tropical Weather Thread
In the late 90s, I flew from Charlotte to New Bern, NC - a small airport about 35 miles inland from the lower Outer Banks. We flew into New Bern into the edge of a tropical storm that made landfall overnight that night. I'm not sure exactly which year it was, but I think it may have been Tropical Storm Dennis (formerly Hurricane Dennis) was moving toward the NC coast after meandering a bit in the Atlantic over the Labor Day weekend in 1999.
We were in an American Airlines regional operator, flying a Saab 340 twin turboprop. Things were fine until we got close to the field and then it got super nasty. I couldn't see the ground until we just about hit the deck. The plane was yawing all over the place, the props groaning into the wind. I'm certain that we were the last flight they let in before the storm hit.
I remember that the coolest thing was when we got to the deplaning area (it was one of those external stair sets on wheels - not a jetway), the pilot got out and yelled at the grounds crew because they had us facing into the rain, making it worse for all of us to deplane. I remember thinking "this guy is bad arse!"
I was in my 20s and don't recall being that frightened - but I'm sure it would be terrifying if I had done it more recently.
In the late 90s, I flew from Charlotte to New Bern, NC - a small airport about 35 miles inland from the lower Outer Banks. We flew into New Bern into the edge of a tropical storm that made landfall overnight that night. I'm not sure exactly which year it was, but I think it may have been Tropical Storm Dennis (formerly Hurricane Dennis) was moving toward the NC coast after meandering a bit in the Atlantic over the Labor Day weekend in 1999.
We were in an American Airlines regional operator, flying a Saab 340 twin turboprop. Things were fine until we got close to the field and then it got super nasty. I couldn't see the ground until we just about hit the deck. The plane was yawing all over the place, the props groaning into the wind. I'm certain that we were the last flight they let in before the storm hit.
I remember that the coolest thing was when we got to the deplaning area (it was one of those external stair sets on wheels - not a jetway), the pilot got out and yelled at the grounds crew because they had us facing into the rain, making it worse for all of us to deplane. I remember thinking "this guy is bad arse!"
I was in my 20s and don't recall being that frightened - but I'm sure it would be terrifying if I had done it more recently.