NOAA aircraft supports midwest flooding emergency response
Following a severe flooding event in the Midwest and South, NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey collected emergency response imagery aboard one of NOAA’s King Air aircraft. Responding within 24 hours of a mission assignment from FEMA, NOAA crews provided real-time damage assessment imagery. In addition, a NOAA Twin Otter conducted river surveys in the Nashville and Louisville areas. This critical imagery was made available to local, state and federal emergency agencies to support disaster response efforts.
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NOAA Twin Otter supports right whale surveys
Survey teams aboard NOAA’s Twin Otter aircraft track real-time sightings and photograph North Atlantic right whales (along the East Coast of the U.S. and Canada). The North Atlantic Right Whale is part of NOAA Fisheries Endangered Species Conservation: Species in the Spotlight Initiative. These surveys help identify high-risk areas where whales overlap with human activity, such as shipping and fishing. Recently, crews spotted 80 different whales in a single day in Cape Cod Bay, found a previously undocumented mother-calf pair near New York Harbor, and expanded coverage off New York and New Jersey, an area with limited historical data but high risk for ship strikes.
Photo: Accordion and calf, permit 27066, credit: Tim Cole
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NOAA Twin Otter and King Air team up in Alaska for ice seal surveys
Flying at just 1,000 feet, NOAA’s Twin Otter and King Air aircraft capture geotagged imagery using advanced AI and photogrammetry systems developed with scientists from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. These missions aim to estimate the abundance and distribution of bearded, ringed, ribbon and spotted seals in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas, helping researchers understand how these species are responding to changing sea ice conditions. The data supports NOAA’s broader conservation goals and benefits local communities that rely on healthy marine ecosystems.
To learn more about the Ice Seals Surveys, watch our video showcasing the King Air in action.
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AOC maintenance team completes simultaneous in-house inspections
For the first time, the maintenance team at the Aircraft Operations Center accomplished an in-house phase inspection on three different aircraft platforms simultaneously. During phase maintenance, an aircraft undergoes a comprehensive inspection and maintenance period following a certain number of flight hours or cycles. NOAA aircraft maintainers accomplished an Equal Maintenance for Maximum Availability Inspection on a Twin Otter, and phase inspections on a WP-3D Orion and King Air. Typically, NOAA outsources these types of maintenance, but with an increase in qualified maintenance personnel, the team can perform more work in-house. These maintenance evolutions are crucial to keeping our aircraft in top shape and mission-ready.
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Meet the Crew: Lt. Cmdr. Priti Bhatnagar
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Meet Lt. Cmdr. Priti Bhatnagar! Flying both the Twin Otter and Gulfstream IV-SP, she supports a wide variety of missions from marine mammal surveys to hurricane reconnaissance. Read more about her career journey in the NOAA Corps here. |
Heritage: a symbol of NOAA’s enduring mission
Once marking the entrance to NOAA’s Research Flight Facility at Miami International Airport, this sign now hangs at the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida. The Research Flight Facility operated from 1961 to 1992 and was renamed to the Aircraft Operations Center in 1974. The center has been vital to hurricane research and forecasting for decades. Now displayed at AOC, the sign serves as a link between the facility’s legacy and continuing missions today.
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Featured Photo
 NOAA Twin Otter flies near Mount Hood during a snow survey mission in Oregon.
Credit: Ensign Sean Cheng, NOAA Corps
On the Radar
In addition to hurricane missions, the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center is supporting several other important projects scheduled for this summer.
Later this month, a WP-3 will conduct flight in support of the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory’s emerging technologies program. These flights will deploy and test new technologies that keep NOAA at the forefront of cutting edge hurricane research.
Our Twin Otters and King Airs will continue vital marine mammal surveys and coastal mapping missions, as well as other crucial projects.
Later this summer, a NOAA King Air will support the National Geodetic Survey’s GRAV-D project, which aims to collect high-resolution gravity data across the country.
Additionally, a NOAA Twin Otter will fly over Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania to support a collaborative NOAA project to measure carbon dioxide and methane emissions using state-of-the-art atmospheric instrumentation.
If your plans take you to the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center’s annual “Innovations in Flight” on June 14, please visit us to meet members of our crew and see NOAA’s WP-3D Orion and King Air aircraft.
We look forward to sharing accomplishments from the summer with you in the next issue of Flightlines. Subscribe to the newsletter by signing up here, and be sure to follow us on social media!
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