According to a flight path on social media, this week the hurricane is a Category 4 storm, a Category 4 storm, a Spirit Airlines plane appears to have flew over Hurricane Elling.
Spirit Airlines tells Newsweek In a statement, the flight was operating normally and no injuries were reported.
“Safety is always our top priority,” the statement said. “In this case, our pilots follow procedures and Air Traffic Control (ATC) instructions while heading to San Juan (SJU). Our Operations Control Center closely tracks the weather system and works with our pilots and ATC to determine flight paths that safely navigate or above in adverse weather conditions.”
Why it matters
Spiritual efforts have long been struggling with lower demand and related financial pressures, which led to filing for bankruptcy in November. Despite the airline's Chapter 11 process from March, the company recently warned that it would soon go bankrupt.
As of Wednesday morning, Hurricane Irene was a Category 2 storm with a maximum sustained wind of 100 mph.
What to know
Spirit Airlines' flight path was shared on social media with Flighttradar24 (Live Flight Tracker) on Monday, showing an airplane flying in the storm.
“Is the Holy Spirit engaged in the mission of Hurricane Hunter?” Flightradar24 released on X.
The plane is Spirit Airlines NK2298, which appears to wind through the storm's takeaway before turning south. Airbus A320-271N leaves Philadelphia at 1:34 pm and plans to arrive in San Juan, Puerto Rico at 5:15 pm
A stock photo shows a Spirit Airlines plane.
leekris/getty
However, flight data from another flight tracker, Flightaware, shows the flight of the Elling takeaway, rather than through it.
In the Flightradar24 data, it is not clear whether the aircraft is flying over the storm. Pilot Phil McCain wrote during a 2023 Travel Guide Travel Travel that commercial pilots will usually choose a path that will circumvent hurricanes.
Flying on hurricanes is possible, but pilots usually avoid the road, as hurricanes can reach 50,000 feet at altitude, which is higher than most aircraft flying.
“Airplanes can fly over, around, and even to hurricanes,” McCain wrote. “But passenger planes usually avoid powerful storms.”
Regardless of its exact path, Spirit arrived in San Juan safely on Monday, despite being 52 minutes behind the plan. The same Spirit Airlines flight from Philadelphia to San Juan took a road around Hurricane Erin on Wednesday, according to Flightaware flight data.
What are people talking about
Meteorologist's maximum speed, there are crying emojis on X: “The spirit has experienced Hurricane Irene.”
Storm Chaser Colin McCarthy, X: “A Spirit Airlines plane is just the best impression of Hurricane Hunter, passing through the Atlantic Category 4 Hurricane Irene's external band.”
John Hansman, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Newsweek: “Flying in hurricanes at altitude is not particularly dangerous, especially if you are on the top of the clouds and above the top of the turbulent layer. The wind is not a problem at altitude, and the aircraft usually fly high winds in high winds of jet streams. In those high winds and rains, it lands or lands more dangerously.”
What will happen next
Hurricane Irene is still stirring the Atlantic Ocean, and as pilots avoided the storm, it may be the reason for some re-route flights on Wednesday.