On This Date: Hurricane Hunter Mission Lost In Philippines Typhoon Jonathan ErdmanOctober 1, 2025 at 4:00 AM 0 We may take for granted the vital data provided by Hurricane Hunter aircraft flights into the teeth of hurricanes and tropical storms.
- - On This Date: Hurricane Hunter Mission Lost In Philippines Typhoon
Jonathan ErdmanOctober 1, 2025 at 4:00 AM
0
We may take for granted the vital data provided by Hurricane Hunter aircraft flights into the teeth of hurricanes and tropical storms. In the early days, coming back alive wasn't a guarantee.
On Oct. 1, 1945, 80 years ago today, a U.S. Navy mission investigating a Category 1 Western Pacific typhoon went down over the South China Sea. Pilot Lt. Ralph Cook and six members of Crew No. 34 were killed.
The four-engine patrol bomber PB4Y-2 took off that morning from Clark Field, north of Manila, as the typhoon was between the Philippines and Taiwan.
After a report of flight-level winds of around 45 mph, visibility of 200 yards or less in heavy rain and slight turbulence, the crew was never heard from again.
After a week-long search by 40 different flights, the plane's wreckage was found on Batan Island, southeast of Taiwan.
This was the first Hurricane Hunter mission that didn't return. Over the next 29 years, another five missions would also not return, four of which were in Western Pacific typhoons. A total of 53 lives were lost in those six missions combined.
The only mission lost in the Atlantic Basin was on Sept. 26, 1955, when a Navy flight attempted to fly into Category 4 Hurricane Janet over the Caribbean Sea at an altitude of only 700 feet, thousands of feet lower than is recommended today for a storm of this intensity.
The U.S. ended typhoon reconnaissance flights in the Western Pacific Basin in 1987.
(MORE: Most Harrowing Flights In Hurricane Hunter History)
Navy recon crew lost October 1 1945
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
Source: "AOL General News"
Source: ERIUS MAG
Full Article on Source: ERIUS MAG
#LALifestyle #USCelebrities