All-female flight crew flies NOAA hurricane recon mission for the first time

Photo: NOAA AIrcraft Operations Center

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is operating around the clock to monitor Hurricane Dorian as it churns in the Atlantic.

Now one NOAA flight crew has made history.

The agency said this is the first time an all-female three-pilot crew flew a reconnaissance mission.

The crew featured Capt. Kristie Twining, Cmdr. Rebecca Waddington and Lt. Lindsey Norman.

According to FlightAware, their NOAA plane took off from Lakeland and flew around Hurricane Dorian to collect data. The flight returned to Lakeland about 7 hours later after flying a total of 3,651 miles.

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