Delta Airlines pilot defeats Hurricane Irma

The havoc wrecking Hurricane Irma may have forced airlines to cancel their flights, caused destructions to properties and reduced Paradise-like cities to nothing, but its destruction prowess cannot be extended to the Delta Airline.

Despite the uncontrollable nature of the deadly storm that has been described as one of the worst in history, a daring Delta Airlines pilot dodged the Hurricane Irma to land in Puerto Rico - before dropping off all the passengers and heading back to JFK in just 51 minutes.

Many Airlines were forced to cancel their scheduled flights owing to the storm, but the indefatigable crew for Delta flight 431 decided to damn the threats of the storm and face it squarely.

In order to get in one last flight to and from the island before the storm hit, the flight flew directly from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and then quickly turned around and came back.

Surprisingly, both flights managed to land in their respective destinations before schedule.

Delta had a scheduled flight from New York to San Juan, which was planned to leave at 8.05am.

However, the flight ended up leaving just a few minutes after the scheduled time, and unusually landed seven minutes earlier than programmed.

The flight’s movement was monitored on Flightradar24, and photos show the tricky path that the plane had to take to avoid the worst bits of the turbulence.

It was clear in the flight path that, the pilots made a point to weave in between the outer bands of the storm to get to and from San Juan.

READ ALSO: Children banned from going to church

Dailymail.com reports that the crew on this plane was able to get all passengers to the gate, deplaned, boarded for a return flight, and then off the ground in just 51 minutes.

According to Rabinowitz live updates, it was most likely a quick turnaround once it was down on the ground so that the crew could get out of the way of the storm as quickly as possible.

The flight, Delta 303, was the last one out of the San Juan Airport on Wednesday. It landed in New York at 4.22pm, more than 30 minutes early.

The storm has been described as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a decade, and has caused massive destruction to much of the Caribbean on Wednesday.

Reports say the storm is currently a category five hurricane and is expected to heighten in the next couple of days. Experts believe it will hit the mainland United States before the weekend.

Official sources say Hurricane Irma has had winds that reach up to 185 miles per hour, and has caused serious chaos, wreckage and flooding from Barbuda to Puerto Rico.

According to Dailymail.com, more than 90 percent of Barbuda has been destroyed, and 95 percent of St Martin has been destroyed. Four people have been reported dead so far.

The Delta pilot's ability to navigate in the storm and get to and from Puerto Rico safely is particularly amazing due to the intensity of the storm.

Patrick Smith, a pilot who runs a blog about planes told the Huffington Post that there isn't much that is subjective regarding winds on the ground and the ability of a flight to land.

“There are maximum tailwind and crosswind limits that have to be observed,” he explained.

“Above and beyond any hard-and-fast limits, you've got powerful gusts, severe turbulence, extreme precipitation or other clearly unstable conditions, no airline is going to sanction flight in those conditions.”

However, a Delta news release assured people that the weather conditions in San Juan were safe enough for the flights.

The release further stated that the flight faced “nine miles of visibility and light rain,” which the statement said was “well below operating limits” for the type of plane that was being flown.

Delta Airlines pilot defeats Hurricane Irma

The havoc wrecking Hurricane Irma may have forced airlines to cancel their flights, caused destructions to properties and reduced Paradise-like cities to nothing, but its destruction prowess cannot be extended to the Delta Airline.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Recommended articles