O P E R A T I O N S
“Each potential
problem and threat
was anticipated and a
solution worked out in
advance and shared
40 | BU S INE S S A I R P O RT INT E RNAT I ONA L JA N UA RY 2 0 2 0
with the staff”
Deborah Aharon, CEO,
Provo Air Center
Storm riders
Specially equipped National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration aircraft play a
vital role in the forecasting of
storms and hurricanes.
Data collected during
hurricanes by these aircraft is
fed into computer models to
help forecasters predict how
intense a hurricane will be,
when it will make landfall and
perhaps most importantly,
where it will hit.
The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s
(NOAA) two Lockheed
WP-3D Orion turboprop aircraft
probe every wind and pressure
change. Researchers repeat the
arduous experience again and
again during the course of a
ten-hour mission.
The researchers aboard the
aircraft deploy probes, called
dropwindsondes, as the aircraft
flies through the hurricane.
These instruments continuously
transmit measurements
of pressure, humidity,
temperature, and wind
direction and speed as they
fall toward the sea, providing a
detailed look at the structure of
the storm and its intensity.
Meanwhile the NOAA’s
twin-engine Gulfstream IV-SP
(G-IV) which can fly up to 4,000
nautical miles at a cruising
altitude of 45,000ft, helps
create a detailed picture of
weather systems in the upper
atmosphere surrounding
developing hurricanes. T
he G-IV’s data also
supplements the critical low
altitude research data that is
collected by NOAA’s P-3s from
inside the hurricanes.
“To support hurricane operations, we can operate our
three Hurricane Hunter aircraft around the clock depending
on mission tasking. Our aircraft can be tasked with either
research missions or reconnaissance missions.
“Notably during this season, our aircraft provided
extensive coverage of Hurricane Dorian. We flew missions
on it from when it was first a tropical disturbance through
development into a hurricane, from Category 1 through
Category 5 and back to Category 1 at landfall. During
Dorian, our aircraft flew 25 missions, 10 G-IV and 15 P-3
flights, with more than 75 hours for the G-IV and 110+ hours
for the P-3.”
Lessons for the future
Reflecting on 2017’s Hurricane Irma, Aharon says, “Irma
taught me several things. On an immediate basis, it taught
me that I could endure discomfort with far more patience
than I would have anticipated. For nearly three weeks, I lived
in my office because my house was uninhabitable.
“There were about 25 of us camping out, including staff
and their children, a newborn baby, and a woman about
to give birth to twins any minute, along with various
military and relief personnel. There was only
one shower, a design mistake for which I
chastised myself every morning.
“The experience taught me that I
could be more resourceful than I
imagined. While my staff handled
flight after flight, I stayed in my
office tracking down supplies
and making trade deals to
make sure we had enough
food and water.
“Later, Irma also taught
me humility. I felt that I had
done everything I could
to prepare for the storm.
It wasn’t until months later
when I met my colleagues
from the Pazos FBO in
San Juan at a trade show
and heard their story that I
realized how little I had really
accomplished.”
The Pazos FBO at the Luis Muñoz
Marin International Airport in Puerto
Rico, which was acquired and
rebranded as Jet Aviation San Juan
in April 2017, suffered significant
damage during Hurricane Maria in
2017, including the destruction of
one of its hangars. The team was able
to resume operations and was the only
functioning FBO at the Luis Muñoz Marin
International Airport 24 hours after Hurricane
Maria had hit.
According to Aharon, the team at the FBO had a written
plan to deal with the hurricane, including a route map for
their staff showing the various routes to the FBO. After the
storm they circled the airport in a van through several check
points to meet staff who were struggling to get to work.
They also identified local restaurants with generators and
negotiated contracts in advance to have food and water
delivered daily.
“Pazos, to me, is an absolute success story in how to
survive a catastrophic event,” Aharon says. “What they
did was comprehensively well thought out, each potential
problem and threat was anticipated and a solution worked
out in advance and shared with the staff.
“I was floored by their story and their success,
and ashamed of myself for feeling that I had done
enough,” concludes Aharon.
If these operators are anything to go by,
it would appear that the industry is doing
everything it can to plan for and deal with,
whatever disasters may occur in the future.
Below: Researchers from
the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
track and fly into storms to
measure them