LAKELAND, FL (WTSP/CBS/WBTW) – The scream of jet engines signals the return of yet another successful Hurricane Hunter missioN to the NOAA Air Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida.
The crew gathers vital information over and all around Hurricane Dorain as the storm moves closer to Florida.
But, on this flight, something you don’t normally see…an all female flight crew exiting the cockpit. It’s a first in the program’s history flying into an Atlantic hurricane.
“We fly fast, we fly high, so we can cover a lot of area,” said Commander Rebecca Waddington.
“That means there are more women getting interested in flying and it’s also fun to have that camaraderie because to be honest it’s been a male-dominated field,” Capt. Kristie Twining said. “To let them know this is something that is certainly a possibility for them and they don’t have to feel intimidated or in anyway think that they cannot do it.”
“There’s a little bit of people think you’re a little bit nuts. Then when you tell him this is why we’re going out and doing this, going out and collecting all of this really important data, then people are usually really grateful for what you’re doing,” Lt. Lindsey Norman said.
FOR MORE ON HURRICANE DORIAN, VISIT NEWS13’S STORMTRACKER13 HURRICANE CENTER HERE.
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