The “Teal 73” aircraft from the U.S. Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters took off this Friday for its sixth mission into Hurricane Isaias, as the storm battered the Gulf of Mexico with sustained winds of 195 km/h and a central pressure of 959 millibars, equivalent to category 3.
The unit, officially known as the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, confirmed the takeoff in the afternoon with a direct message: “Teal 73 is in the air for the sixth mission of the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters within Hurricane Isaias, collecting data for the National Hurricane Center forecasts. The crews will fly missions until landfall.”
Hours later, the unit released a time-lapse video showing the interior of the hurricane captured during that afternoon flight, an image that only a few people in the world get to see in real time.
The first contact of the Cazahuracanes with Isaías occurred on Wednesday, when the system was still a tropical storm located approximately 700 miles southwest of Biloxi, Mississippi.
In response to the rapid intensification of the cyclone, the 403rd Wing —the parent unit of the squadron, normally based at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi— evacuated its aircraft on Thursday to Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, in order to protect them from the hurricane, while still maintaining reconnaissance missions.
"The mission continues. Operating from Kelly Field, Texas, our Hurricane Hunters from the Air Force Reserve will fly into Hurricane Isaias to collect vital data to support forecasts from the National Hurricane Center," the unit reported on Thursday.
The aircraft used are the WC-130J Super Hercules, a weather version of the classic C-130, and each mission requires a crew of five people: aircraft commander, co-pilot, navigator, aerial reconnaissance meteorologist, and weather load specialist.
The central instrument of each flight is the dropsondes, devices launched from the aircraft's cargo hold that descend parachute-style at about 760 meters per minute, measuring pressure, temperature, humidity, wind, and GPS position, and transmitting that data twice a second directly to the National Hurricane Center.
This unit is the only one in the U.S. Department of Defense that flies directly into tropical storms and hurricanes, with a fleet of 10 aircraft assigned.
Isaías became the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season on Wednesday night, when it reached sustained winds of approximately 120 km/h.
Since then, its intensification was maintained until it reached category 3, with projected surges of up to 2.7 meters in the most exposed coastal areas.
The National Hurricane Center was forecasting that Isaiah could make landfall tonight or in the early hours of Saturday, at some point between Mississippi, Alabama, and northwest Florida, with accumulated rainfall of between 100 and 200 millimeters.
Cuba is not facing a direct threat from the system: the Meteorological Institute ruled out hurricane-force winds and storm surges for the island, although eastern Cuba could experience indirect rain associated with the cyclone.
The Cazahuracanes warned that the crews will continue to fly reconnaissance missions until the exact moment Isaías makes landfall.
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