Hurricane Irma: This Delta flight flew right into the stormthen had minutes to escape

[demmiblue]

Source: SacBee

Hurricane Irma was spinning toward Puerto Rico today, but that didn’t stop one Delta flight from making a daring landing on the island mid-afternoon—and then trying to get out before the storm made landfall.

Riveted Twitter users followed along in real time by looking at radar depictions of the plane’s flight bath, as Delta Flight 431 left New York City and headed south toward San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“DL431 is going for it,” wrote Jason Rabinowitz, a Twitter user and self-described aviation geek who spotted the plane headed straight toward the menacing storm.

Meanwhile, the island braced itself for landfall of the Category 5 storm, whose 180 mile per hour winds, torrential rains and punishing storm surge prompted Puerto Rico’s governor to declare a preemptive state of emergency earlier this week. Irma has already set records, too, becoming the strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, according to the National Hurricane Center.

More: http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/world/article171577632.html

[Dem_4_Life]

1. WOW that is impressive

Besides the fantastic team effort and bravery to do this I cannot understand why someone would be flying in to PR min before the hurricane hits. Were these residents, tourists or maybe rescue or weather related storm chasers?

I also wonder how many people boarded the flight and was this pre-planned flights or were they helping evacuate people. Does any one have any more information on this?