Grounded NOAA Hurricane Hunter Plane Has No Backup With 2 Months of Hurricane Season Left

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/noaa-hurricane-hunter-aircraft-inoperable-with-two-months-of-hurricane-season

By Eric Chaney
Sep 28 2017

With more than two months of the Atlantic hurricane season left, NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters have grounded the Gulfstream IV aircraft that flies over storms at high altitudes to gather data.

"Unbelievably, there is no backup," Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) told the Palm Beach Post. "I’ve sounded the alarm on this until I’m blue in the face. The administration simply must act."

The plane, nicknamed Gonzo, suffered a series of three malfunctions in a period of eight days, ABC News said. NOAA spokesperson Christopher Vaccaro told weather.com there was a problem with the fuel ignition system in one of the jet’s engines as well as a seal leak in the main cabin door that recurred twice.

As a result, the plane has been grounded for the third time, missing at least two planned missions into Hurricane Maria, the Palm Beach Post reported. Repairs could keep the jet grounded until Oct. 3.

"NOAA has taken no major steps to acquire reliable backup," Nelson wrote in an early September letter to NOAA’s acting head. "It is unacceptable that we again find ourselves in the midst of hurricane season without reliable NOAA aircraft reconnaissance and without backup capability."

That’s despite the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act passed in April, into which Nelson added language that requires a second aircraft be available to "prevent a single point of failure."

•••••

The Gulfstream is the only high-altitude aircraft in NOAA’s hurricane hunter fleet, the data from which the agency says has improved hurricane track forecasts by about 20 percent in recent years.

•••••