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Aliya: No matter where you live
on planet Earth,
the one thing we all have in common is the weather.
(Waves crashing)
♪
Teddy: Whether you're hunting hurricanes
to protect lives and property...
It's ingrained in us that weather is dangerous
but sometimes you need to know what a hurricane's doing.
Aliya: Braving stormy seas to haul in the catch of the day.
We never worry about weather,
we just fish straight through it.
Welcome to the Bering Sea, baby, yeah!
Teddy: ...or piercing the snowy heights of the Swiss Alps.
Man: Our boss is the weather and every day
it brings something new.
Aliya: When the weather outside
turns frightful,
these are the weather warriors who dare to look
Mother Nature right in the eye.
♪
These are the mightiest planes, trains and ships
ever devised by humankind.
And only a select few are tough enough to take on
the fiercest storms and weather conditions on Earth.
These are weather warriors!
Weather warriors, I love it.
We're gonna have a look at the Northern Leader.
It's a fishing vessel that battles incredible winds
and blizzard conditions in the choppy North Pacific.
And this is really cool, A.J.
I'm taking you over to Switzerland
on a world-class scenic train.
It's called the Bernina Express
and its crew battle intense ice and snow to make sure
guests have a smooth ride.
And one of the most destructive weather events
on earth is the hurricane,
so I met with a crew of hurricane hunters.
They work for the US government's
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
better known as NOAA.
And they fly P-3 Orion's right into the eye
of the storm for research.
I mean, how wild is that?
Wow, and I can't believe you got to film with actual
official hurricane hunters.
Yeah, they're actually now developing new drone tech
that promises to give even better data.
And I assume the idea with that data is that
it will allow them to better predict future hurricanes?
Yeah, I mean, that's the hope right?
And get this:
I was actually there as the drones were prepared
for their first full test flight after years of development
and it was intense.
(Engine whooshing)
(Dramatic instrumental music)
From high above, they are deceptively beautiful.
Feathery clouds swirling with a symmetrical grace.
But at sea-level, hurricanes are chaos defined.
One of the most powerful
and dangerous weather events on earth.
(Wind whistling)
It only takes one storm to really have
a disastrous outcome.
♪
I don't get hung up on how many are gonna occur in a year.
I just prepare for the worst and just hope for the best.
♪
Aliya: 2005's Hurricane Katrina was a Category 5 storm
that devastated New Orleans, killing 1,833 people
and causing $108 billion in damage.
Hurricanes are one of the most terrifying
and destructive weather forces on the planet.
NOAA works hard to understand these storms
and to help save lives.
We've been flying crewed aircraft like this
into hurricanes before NOAA even existed.
This goes back to the 1940s with the Navy flying
different planes in there and getting data.
So that's not new.
Aliya: NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center
is headquartered at Lakeland Linder International Airport
near Tampa, Florida.
If you weren't in the know,
you might wonder why NOAA needs an airport base.
But there just isn't room for these in the lab.
Adam: Right here we have a WP-3D Orion.
So this was a variant of a Lockheed plane
that was designed and made for the US Navy.
Aliya: NOAA's P-3's have been flying
into harm's way since 1975,
providing scientists
an invaluable platform to study these monster storms.
(Wind howling)
These hurricane hunter planes play a key role
in collecting vital data for hurricane forecasting.
Hey, are you Joe--
Joe is the chief of the engineering branch at NOAA.
And he gets us up to speed on what makes the P-3
the right plane for this job.
Joe: It's a tough aircraft that was made to fly
in the North Atlantic during the Cold War.
And the North Atlantic we know is a very tough
environment for aircraft to fly in.
Very similar to what we do in a hurricane.
It was made for submarine hunting.
Aliya: Okay.
Joe: And we take that aircraft
and Lockheed built us a special aircraft that,
that was special built for us but an airframe
that's proven tough.
It's a pressure aircraft that can fly at high altitudes
and low altitudes as well.
It's a turbo prop so it can handle the ingest of the water
as it flies through a hurricane.
Aliya: NOAA's two P-3's
official designations are N42RF and N43RF,
but they are affectionately known as Kermit and Miss Piggy.
Joe introduces us to Miss Piggy to get a better look
at her construction while revealing some of the dangers
they face during missions.
Joe: I've seen the upper tail fin
just take a lot of damage.
I've seen the windshield break.
I've seen some of our instruments that,
that we have on the aircraft that are just totally pitted.
Some of the instruments on the outside of the aircraft,
will-- do not believe the damage that's taken
because we go through some unbelievable tough stuff
and this airplane comes back every time.
Aliya: So the P-3 is a tough plane
and with it NOAA gathers valuable real world data
to help improve weather forecasting models.
(Dynamic instrumental music)
Paul: So the models don't do a great job
as a group to really predict where these will go
and once we go out and fly the storms and put real data
into the models-- pressure, the temperature, humidity,
wind direction, wind speed, radars--
forces the models to agree with what's
really happening out there.
You know, with the same data
they can make a better forecast.
♪
Joe: Data's intensive.
It requires new instrumentation, new upgrades,
new ways to get the data off the aircraft.
It's all about the data.
Aliya: Joe gives us a tour of some recent upgrades
meant to better study hurricanes as NOAA gets ready
for the storm season ahead.
Tell me about the radar system because you are instrumental in,
in putting this radar system in?
Joe: Right, right.
There's a flat plate antenna that rotates.
It's about 7 feet by about 3 feet wide.
Aliya: And how is that different
than what you would normally have?
Joe: A normal aircraft has a nose radar, right?
It's specifically designed to avoid weather.
And it only sees what's in front of the aircraft.
However, we also need to know what's around us.
(Unclear) so when we're in the storm
obviously we want to find a place to get out of the storm.
So with a 360-degree radar, we can see what's behind us
and the pilots have the ability to,
to turn and go back-- come back out where they came from.
The biggest thing this thing's going to do eventually
is the data from this will also be sent off the aircraft
in live to National Hurricane Center
to help better the forecast.
These two aircraft are special.
They're the only two that can capture this type of data
we do and the only two that can get in and out
of the storm safely.
Aliya: Joe has a lot to keep an eye on.
Here he goes.
(Engine whooshing)
Aliya: And his colleagues at NOAA are no less dedicated
to getting ahead of these storms.
You guys know there's some RF issues that we need
to solve now or is this--
Aliya: Dr. Joe Cione is the lead meteorologist
and driving force behind one of NOAA's newest missions,
testing drones for use inside hurricanes.
Joe C.: NOAA does predictions for seasonal forecasts
of what hurricanes-- how many hurricanes
we're going to get particularly.
And the forecast was for more than normal.
So more than normal doesn't really help you, right,
because more than normal doesn't tell you where
it's going to go, when, exactly how many, et cetera.
Aliya: Tropical storms and hurricanes
are notoriously difficult to track and predict.
A major red flag in a hurricane development
is called rapid intensification,
an increase in the maximum sustained winds
of at least 30 knots in a 24-hour period.
(Dramatic instrumental music)
This process still isn't well understood.
Hurricanes that rapidly intensify can catch
everyone off guard, creating the most dangerous
of situations.
To study this phenomenon,
Joe and his team are focusing on getting closer
to the ocean's surface during a storm.
Paul: In the past, we started to do some research
on flying really low with putting the aircraft
close to the surface of the water.
We learned some lessons that we don't want
to ever do that again.
Joe C.: It's no way for a plane,
a crewed aircraft, to go down there.
But it's important for another reason.
That's how the storm stays alive.
That's how the storm gets its energy.
Having instruments down there that can really give us
that information will help our researchers
better understand things like rapid intensification.
Joe C.: It's a very, very, very dangerous place to go.
You have 50 to 60 foot waves.
You've got salt and sea spray kicking up.
Aliya: Too dangerous for the hearty P-3s
but not for an unmanned drone.
Uncrewed systems are going to be so critical
that we're experimenting with now.
We'll be able to put those UASs into areas of the storm
that we just know we don't want to fly anymore.
Joe C: So with this type of technology we can look at
how the energy's actually transferred from the ocean
to the atmosphere in extreme detail and translate
that information to the computer models
so that we can get improved forecasts of intensity change.
And if some of these checks
or some of the engineering aspects
aren't exactly up to snuff, we don't want
to find this out in the air right before we fly.
Aliya: This drone has been subject to three long years
of testing and now it must face one last trial
before it sees real action in a hurricane.
Coming up, we meet the engineers and pilots behind NOAA's
new ALTIUS-600 hurricane drone as they prepare
for their big moment.
So cool and, hey, if brainy weather scientists
can earn the title warrior
there's hope for me yet, A.J.!
I love it.
We'll also brace ourselves for turbulent waters
on the Northern Leader fisher vessel.
And I'm on the Bernina Express as ice-cold conditions
jeopardize our trip through Switzerland.
You're always a TV warrior to us, Teddy.
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♪
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♪
This is The Mightiest: Weather Warriors.
And we've seen how the hurricane hunters
want new and better tools to improve forecast models
in the hopes that they can better warn those
that are in the path of a hurricane.
And, I mean, clearly that could save billions in property damage
but more importantly it could save a lot of lives, right?
Yeah, their hopes are riding on a newly developed drone
but it remains to be seen if the drone will work
and if it'll gather accurate data.
(Wind howling)
The impact of Hurricane Sandy pushed government and industry
to work harder and smarter on new ways to study
the growing hurricane danger.
Patrick Sosa and Josh Goates are with Area-I,
a private sector company with a solution
to NOAA's problem: the ALTIUS-600.
Guys, you've been working on this drone for 10 years now.
What's it feel like today for you, for your team?
Josh: If the ALTIUS is able to complete its mission,
you know, if it's able to gather that data,
by providing this better understanding
of how hurricanes work, how they're going to progress,
where they're going to go.
And you know, ultimately the goal
is to save more lives with that.
It's really cool to be doing something
with the technology that has that potential.
Aliya: Patrick and Josh are nervous to put
the ALTIUS-600 to the ultimate test.
We all have, like, these Fitbit trackers,
and we all talk about, like, okay--
then we go after and we compare heart rates.
I've had times where I've had to manually fly the ALTIUS,
and it's fun to look back, 'cause you can definitely see
my heart rate spike into the cardio regions as I'm flying.
♪
Aliya: But before the ALTIUS takes its groundbreaking
test flight in the sky, Patrick and Josh
must check and recheck every system.
Patrick: So, we have several sensors in here.
We have earth temperature, pressure, and humidity sensors.
We also have IR sensors
that will tell us the temperature of the sea surface.
Aliya: The sensitive instruments on board the ALTIUS all have to
work perfectly in order to deliver on mission parameters.
Okay, 33.7.
Your hand, your hand's hotter than the tabletop.
35.2. Yep, that says that those IR sensors are working.
Perfect.
Aliya: With this round of system checks complete,
Patrick and Josh pack the ALTIUS
into a specially built launch tube.
♪
Josh: Slide it back in.
♪
Patrick: So, the tube will go in the belly of the P3.
♪
We have a pneumatic launcher here.
Josh: Yep.
So, contained in here is a pneumatic tank with some valves.
When those valves open,
it takes a piston and pushes the piston down.
And that, in turn, pushes on the ALTIUS
and spills it out that end of the tube.
Aliya: Packed safely in its launch tube,
the ALTIUS drone is taken out for a stroll and another test.
We're checking the range
between the ALTIUS inside of here and the P3.
There's a lot of cables, connectors,
and a lot of antennas and RF in the area that's involved,
and we need to make sure that all of that is
working correctly before we go to fly.
Well, again, it's--
How's it looking, Goates?
Yeah, go ahead and flip the enable switch.
(Over radio) Looking good. Give me just a second.
Looks like GPS is good.
Reading very consistent data through web--
That's good.
Aliya: Because the data that the drone collects
will be verified against that gathered by Miss Piggy,
it's crucial that the ALTIUS can communicate with the P3.
All lights are green. I think we're good to go.
It may be a little bit ironic that hurricane hunters
are really rooting for good weather for this test flight,
but that's exactly what we want.
The whole point of this mission is to compare what we know
as truth from the host aircraft data system
to what this is collecting.
And if we have confidence that they match up well,
that's enough for us to say,
okay, the next step is to fly this in a hurricane.
Aliya: Planning, attention to detail,
and being ready for every contingency
is key to NOAA's hurricane hunting operations.
I think it probably makes sense for us to actually--
Between his duties,
we snagged some time with Commander Adam Abitbol.
Hey, how's it going, Commander?
A.J. A.J., Adam. Nice to meet you.
Hey. Matt. Adam. Nice to meet you.
Brian. Brian. Nice to meet you guys.
Thanks for having us.
We're really excited to, uh, film this with you today.
I think it'll be a lot of fun. Yeah, we'll have a good time.
Aliya: Are there some emotions that you do feel every flight?
Uh, I think it depends on what's going on.
Certainly, a Cat 5 land-bearing storm
somewhere along the coast or our Caribbean partners
or partner nations, that has--
that carries a lot more emotion implication.
I mean, the purpose of what you're doing really hits home.
Aliya: Getting back to the mission,
we discuss factors that could still impact tomorrow's flight.
Adam: One of the things is
we don't want to lose the opportunity to test.
What we're doing with this vehicle is verifying
and validating the met sensor,
the meteorological sensor on the instrument.
So, we need the right weather.
One of the big threats to us conducting these tests is having
a collision with our own deployed drone, if you will.
There is a lot of coordination between the drone pilots and us.
So, it's kind of a neat, different way
to manage airspace and aerial systems.
♪
Soon, we'll find out if the conditions are right
for the very first test flight of the ALTIUS drone.
But now let's face difficult waters aboard
the Northern Leader.
So, this ship's job is to haul 1.7 million pounds of fish
caught in the menacing Bering Sea.
And watch how they handle the breakdown of a key piece
of equipment in the middle of a raging storm.
It is really something.
Teddy: In the frigid waters of the Bering Sea,
Northern Leader is on the hunt
for more plentiful fishing grounds.
Hopefully, we'll have bigger fish coming up.
The smaller the fish, the longer it takes the boat
to fill up and the less money we make.
Teddy: Fishing these icy waters
in the middle of winter is a serious challenge.
The Bering Sea is an extremely nasty place this time of year.
♪
Teddy: Up in the wheelhouse, mate James Sjolund
is eyeing a powerful storm moving towards the Bering Sea.
James: We have the forecast for tonight.
Looking at possible gusts of 65 out of the east.
We'll be basically right in the track line of the storm.
It basically has an eye, like a hurricane.
So, it's a pretty well developed low-pressure system.
We'll try to fish, but we're gonna have to see,
see how bad it really gets.
Teddy: A little while later, Captain Andrew informs his crew
about the approaching storm and dangerous conditions ahead.
In a couple of hours here,
it's gonna be whipping up pretty good.
♪
Teddy: Tearing northeast across the Bering Sea,
this monster will bring waves 35 feet high and
winds in excess of 60 knots, or 70 miles per hour.
It's just a matter of how far north it comes,
if it's gonna hit us full on or not.
Teddy: Northern Leader may be the biggest vessel in its class,
but the ship is still just 56 metres or 184 feet long.
That doesn't bother Captain Andrew.
He knows Northern Leader is tough as nails.
We just need to be really prepared, and,
um, if we get the full effect of it,
well, we're definitely on a good boat.
That's for sure.
So, the weather is bad, as you guys know.
Don't stand right behind the door,
'cause we're gonna have waves breaking in.
We're gonna be in a following sea,
so we want to be really careful.
Teddy: Everyone must carry a knife for emergencies.
All the buoys are gonna be set off the starboard side.
We're not gonna go to the port side.
It'll be a little bit safer.
If anything happens, make sure-- I want to see knife belts on,
just like this, like he's wearing his right here.
Yeah, so get that thing up to where you can use it, alright?
All you guys.
So, if you're going up into the mid buoy,
have knives where you can use it.
If anything happens, cut the line right away.
♪
Teddy: Deckhand Mike Johnson
prepares for the rough shift ahead.
Oh, 70 mile-an-hour winds, something like that.
Oh, yeah, you gotta stay on your toes.
A lot of coffee. (Chuckles)
Teddy: Joining him in the pit is Tim Hoisington.
He'll be working the dip net,
and he too is bracing for nasty weather.
Tim: The ocean's unpredictable, and a lot can happen.
Like, you never know when you can just go overboard,
or when a rogue wave can just come up or just anything.
♪
Teddy: But the gusting winds and giant waves
also get Tim's adrenaline racing.
Tim: I love it outside.
No matter how rough it is, I still love it.
♪
We're getting there.
Teddy: The Captain manoeuvres the ship
to protect the pit from the worst of the wind and swells.
I set up for the weather, so this allowed me to fall back
to the east and then to tack down to the south.
That allowed me to keep the guys out of the weather.
So, so far, it's worked really well.
Teddy: But the sea is increasingly turbulent.
The winds pick up in intensity.
With powerful waves rocking the ship,
Mike and Tim struggle to bring the fish aboard.
(Waves crashing)
Something to experience, though.
You just got to be on your feet at all times.
In fact, it's really dangerous.
Lots of things going on; things flying, pants flying.
You always have to be on your toes.
♪
Teddy: Northern leader is now headed
straight into the worst of the storm.
The wind and waves rise higher and higher.
Andrew: We got 50 knots plus right now, out of the east.
Definitely 25-footers every now and then.
That's the ones that get us.
So, every now and then, it just blows us over.
So, we're just trying to stay on the gear,
and I'm hauling actually quite slow
to keep these guys in the lead at the moment.
So, it's, uh... Yeah, it's not, it's not fun.
And they're taking a lot of water.
They get so much spray at the roller.
It just sprays up their face.
It's really hard for them to see.
♪
Holy (Bleep)! What was that?
Man: Oh!
♪
So, later in the show, we're back aboard the Northern Leader
as that storm is upgraded to a hurricane.
I know.
I'm watching that and I'm thinking, no, that's not for me.
Just nope. I'm happy here on dry land.
Teddy: Yeah.
But you can really just see how scary that storm looks,
even before it gets to that hurricane status.
Yeah, and that really illustrates
why it's so important that the hurricane hunters
perfect that drone technology.
Yeah, exactly.
So, I met scientists who devote
every waking moment to their field,
and the success or failure of their testing
has huge ramifications.
So, everyone is on the edge of their seats.
The operation and the events to unfold in just a few hours
have been a stress on everyone's minds for weeks.
There's a lot of things that can go wrong
to not allow us to test, uh,
including weather or other technical issues.
And I just hope that we get the opportunity to test,
uh, so that we're able to fly this season in hurricanes.
Aliya: Some of the things that could go wrong depend on
something no one can guarantee, at least not yet: the weather.
We have a small saying around here: it takes 1,001 tiny
miracles to bring, like, something like this to life.
And so, as you iteratively step through the testing process
to bring this new technology online,
every little obstacle has to be overcome
just to arrive at a point where we're going to be tomorrow,
which is an opportunity to fly and launch and test.
(Indistinct conversation)
After the break, is the test flight a go or a no-go?
But you know, don't you? You won't tell me?
Ugh!
And lots of ice and snow threaten the Bernina Express
on its scenic journey through Switzerland.
And then we're back on the Northern Leader,
as that storm intensifies.
And you know what, A.J.?
I'm not gonna tell you what happens either.
This is The Mightiest: Weather Warriors.
♪
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♪
It's 8:00 in the morning on flight day.
When we left here yesterday all systems were a go.
We have learned that overnight
after a final safety check, one of the parts
has a mechanical issue.
Yeah, just one small
challenge right now.
We had a leak on the hydraulic line.
We really wanna do this test,
but keeping the crusade
is really important.
So, we're trying to get
a part for it and we'll
see what happens but...
Can you show us the hydraulic line?
Sure.
So, it's just the connecting
here from this fitting to this fitting.
It'll be just like a one line with kind of a 90° elbow here.
And It's just associated
with the landing gear so.
Aliya: One faulty component creates a potentially
dangerous situation
and delays the mission.
But it won't grind everything to a halt.
We can run some of these things in parallel.
So, maintenance can start working on these things
while the crew continues
to ready for the flight
as if we are gonna go.
That way when the time comes to make a decision, we'll all
be ready to go and execute.
Oh, well...
Charge.
Aliya: Commander Adam Abitbol and engineer Nick Underwood
make some final adjustments
to a camera capturing the drone's test launch.
We only get one shot
at this so I wanna make sure
kind of everything is set up correctly for the test.
Right now Nick's on the ladder.
He's trying to adjust the camera focus.
We expect the instrument
to exit here.
And so we're trying to adjust
the field of view to capture
the instrument exit while having the best focus.
We have to make sure that
everything is set before take
off because once we take off we can't adjust anything.
This is the camera itself.
These are hard points and there
are several of these down in the wing.
When the navy used to fly P3s
they would hang bombs
and missiles and whatever else from these.
And now we're hanging flight test cameras
for science work so...
♪
...multi-use.
Adam: That's out of focus. That's out of focus now.
Okay, give me a second.
♪
Adam: That's better, that's better.
I'm pretty content
with that if you are.
Aliya: Yeah.
Yeah, we'll save the settings.
That way we'll be ready to rock.
It's great news, alright.
Aliya: So, the cameras
are ready, but they are useless on the ground.
Will Miss Piggy be able to fly?
So, right now we have
the hydraulic line issue
on the port landing gear.
We think-- and we're not going
to make any decisions right now, but we think we may be able
to fix it today.
Still have the 7:00pm limit
because that might be an issue given the duration of the burn.
I'll know by noon
if we're gonna push.
Aliya: We are now out of the meeting.
And word in the hanger
is that maintenance does have
the replacement part for
Miss Piggy's hydraulic system, and it's being installed.
Alright, I'm going upstairs. Pump's coming on.
Yes, sir.
♪
Well, we're done.
I mean, we're gonna put the
panel on now and hopefully we can get some UAS actually going.
♪
Aliya: Meanwhile,
Patrick Sosa and the NOAA crew
put the ALTIUS through its final preparation.
Bleed.
Patches and hoses connect.
Fuel port cabinet stall.
Vehicle and flight, correct.
♪
Is it 29?
Patrick: 29.
Alright, and we're done here.
Alright, good to go.
Aliya: With the ALTIUS now pressurized and ready to fly,
Patrick carefully delivers it
the last few steps up and into the P3.
Let me know when I'm near.
♪
Installation,
safety's engaged, free fall
shooter adapter installed.
♪
GPS cable connect.
Alright, good to go.
♪
Oh, yeah, pleasantly surprised.
I wasn't sure if we were
going to fly today and this is really very exciting.
And I just think
that we're set up for success.
Boy, it's hot out here.
I'm gonna go in there guys.
♪
Aliya: Everyone takes
their places.
This is what they have trained and practiced
and worked so hard for.
Going in.
We're ready. We are ready.
Captain, 1-14, camera port.
Ladder up.
(Radio chatter)
♪
Aliya: Taking to the sky, Miss Piggy and her crew
are one step closer
to completing their mission.
But they've got a lot of nautical miles to go.
♪
The green light for testing
was very welcome news at NOAA.
There was a huge sense of relief in the hanger.
But it didn't last for long
because the question now
becomes will that drone work, and we're about to find out.
But first I take in the epic
Swiss Alps aboard the Bernina Express.
But maintaining the track there, it's a massive
ongoing challenge.
It involves breaking through ice and sometimes even triggering
controlled avalanches.
It's all to keep the train
and its passengers safe.
Over 230,000 ride the Bernina Express every year to enjoy
the impressive sights.
(Laughter)
In the middle of winter,
it's a constant battle against the
elements to keep the Bernina Express rolling down the tracks.
Starting work at 5:00am this
morning was anything but fun for track master Adam.
Translator: Today is cold.
We're used to being outside.
We like to be warm, but that's the job.
Teddy: Adam's responsible
for the 61-kilometre
or 38-mile stretch from Thusis to Saint Mortiz.
Part of the job is making sure
trains can squeeze through tunnels.
Translator: Because of the
profile, the tunnels are small, the trains are wide.
The ice, do you see up there?
Teddy: Ground water seeps
into the cracks of the tunnels and freezes.
That shrinks the clearance on both sides.
So, all winter, at least twice
a week, the team claws back the ice, armed with only pick axes.
♪
(Speaking other language)
♪
Teddy: They shovel chunks into the wagon and then turn
their focus overhead.
♪
Translator: Falling icicles
could hit the windshield
and hurt the driver.
Teddy: So, the crew takes one for the team.
Translator: We are sturdy,
we are strong, we can take it.
If the helmet does its job, nothing will happen.
Teddy: Ice build up on
the power lines could shut down our trip and every other train
on this single-track line.
Translator: The ice doesn't
destroy the power lines, but the pantograph that conducts the
power to the train will break.
And then it's done.
Teddy: The overhead wires are live, pulsating with
11,000 volts of electricity.
The crew has to use special
equipment made of carbon fibre.
Translator: These poles protect you from being
electrocuted so nothing
will happen to us.
We can do the work without
turning the electricity off.
Their price tag is 1,500 Swiss francs.
Teddy: A small price to pay to stay safe in a job that could
cost these men their lives.
Translator: My family does
get scared for me every once in a while.
Last year I was almost tipped by a train.
One of my colleagues grabbed me by the shoulder and yanked me
out of the way.
♪
Teddy: When it was built over
a century ago, the Bernina line
was meant to be used only in summer.
Today even the state-of-the-start Bernina
Express needs all the help it
can get to handle the hazards of winter weather.
♪
In just a bit we're back on board the Northern Leader as the
crew keeps working even in the face of a hurricane level storm.
And what happens
when the ALTIUS drone makes
its maiden test flight?
Will it revolutionize hurricane science?
I'm there to find out first hand.
♪
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♪
Teddy: Out in the middle
of the barren sea,
a massive wave has just crashed into the pit of Northern Leader.
♪
No one can see Tim, the man working the dip net.
Was he swept overboard?
♪
On the bridge, the captain immediately radios below deck.
Hey, check out
the dip netter.
He's got hit by a lot of water.
Teddy: Fortunately, Tim is safe.
♪
The wave knocked him off his feet and slammed him
around the pit.
♪
He's still dazed, but manages to hobble around with the help
of a mate and another deckhand.
Honestly, I just remember
a big wave coming in.
And next thing I know I'm doing-- back for the door.
That's the last thing I remember.
Yeah, it's like brick walls,
like semi-trucks is hitting you with water.
♪
Teddy: He's battered
and bruised, but Tim keeps a sense of humour.
Got some on my butt cheek,
but I can't really show that on camera.
And I got my head right here.
You kind of see an old bruise,
but I just-- I think I got knocked out a little bit 'cause
I just don't remember anything.
Teddy: What Tim does know is that it could have been
a lot worse.
You know, usually just went overboard
and they don't even know.
Yeah, it's crazy.
Hey, I'm still a little bit shook up, yeah.
♪
Teddy: The winds are now gusting over 50 knots.
Justin, give me the call.
♪
Teddy: But having worked in the pit himself, the captain
knows just what to do to keep on fishing.
But it's just too dangerous
right now to have a dip netter.
The gaffer is a little bit
more protected.
He can tuck around the corner and get away if it's a swell
that's swooping around at the bow there.
♪
Teddy: In this extreme weather only one man
will work in the pit.
He'll do a shorter shift of 30 minutes on the roller
before another deckhand will take his place.
♪
Up on the bridge, the captain watches the crew
in the pit closely.
We haven't seen the end of it.
We probably got four, five more hours.
♪
Teddy: Captain Andrew and his crew never flinch.
And the catch continues to grow.
Excellent fishing day. We're over 25 tonnes right now.
Teddy: On any other fishing ship,
weather and seas like this would've shut them down by now.
I've only shut down twice in my career.
Northern Leader never has.
Just past 50 nauts, it is only boat to be on.
Teddy: There's a serious incentive
to push on.
Northern Leader's freezer is filling up fast.
♪
We don't got that far to go.
So, you know, we have some weather at this point,
but we like to try to keep pushing on through
and get it done.
♪
(Waves splashing)
Teddy: For the next few hours,
Northern Leader continues to haul in the cod fish...
♪
...riding out the storm until morning.
♪
(Birds squawking)
After four perilous weeks at sea,
the biggest long-liner in Alaska heads back to port...
We're gonna steam to Dutch Harbor full speed.
Teddy: ...ready to unload
a whopping $2 million worth
of the finest cod, skate, and Pollock on the planet.
♪
We're gonna turn this thing around and get it headed
right back out to the Bering Sea.
Teddy: And just 24 hours later,
Northern Leader and its crew
will be back out doing what they do best...
The Northern Leader just goes and goes and goes.
Teddy: ...fishing the turbulent,
unpredictable, and wild waters of the Bering Sea.
♪
Talk about weather warriors.
The crew on the Northern Leader are fearless.
All right, well, it's time to get back to the action
with the NOAA Hurricane Hunters.
They're finally about to deploy this test drone.
This is truly a historical moment, right?
But only if it works.
♪
Overcoming multiple challenges,
including a faulty hydraulics line,
NOAA's P3 Orion Miss Piggy finally takes off from her base
at Lakeland Linder International Airport in Florida.
The P3 is carrying a crew of scientists and engineers
conducting a crucial test flight for the next generation
of hurricane hunting technology: aerial drones.
So far, conditions look ideal.
It's not quite glass on the gulf so that's good.
Free winds. There's a little bit out there.
Man: Yeah, the winds look great
from the south.
Adam: It'd be a little more pressure.
Aliya: Miss Piggy arrives
at the designated test airspace
200 nautical miles out over the Atlantic.
There, expendable sensor packages called dropsondes
are deployed to measure atmospheric conditions.
They've been part of NOAA's toolkit for decades
and their data will establish a baseline for ALTIUS to match.
We drop the drop zone at 10,000 feet
and what this drop zone does is, like, taking temperature,
air pressure, dew point, humidity, vertical speed,
wind direction at each level as it's going down.
♪
Man 2: (Unclear) is passing through
1000 feet on its way to splash.
One's down to about 8 nauts, but so far, no lightvariable.
Man 3: Yeah, we're watching it.
This is excellent.
Aliya: Dr. Joe Cione,
lead meteorologist on the project,
feels good about their progress.
Knock on-- well, there's no wood,
but knock on something here.
And I'm really confident that things are gonna go well
and we're gonna find out here in a couple minutes.
Aliya: Rounding out the team
for this historic test flight,
Area-I engineers, Patrick Sosa and Josh Goates,
who have been working on the ALTIUS for years.
We are going to do a power cycle on the aircraft.
I think we're feeling pretty good.
We're feeling pretty confident that it's gonna work out,
but it's still pretty exciting, pretty nervous that, you know,
whenever we see this launch,
it's gonna tumble, tumble, tumble,
and then it's gonna recover and be flying, so pretty exciting.
Aliya: The go, no-go check
is the crew's last chance to ensure everything
is set for launch.
If anything looks wrong, from weather to airspace,
to ALTIUS systems, now is the time to speak up.
Pilot?
We're a go.
-(Unclear). -Go.
-Flight director. -Go.
-Eight apps. -Go.
-AVO? -AVO is go.
And test director is go.
Pilot, please execute the ALTIUS WP-3D launch checklist.
All right, here we go, guys.
Aliya: Inside the P3,
aside from the hum of Miss Piggy's engines
and the air rushing by at 210 nauts, 250 miles per hour,
you can hear a pin drop.
Man: Standby for final countdown
in five, four, three, two, one, launch.
♪
Man 2: Payload is away.
Man 3: Safe separation confirmed.
Man 4: All standing.
Nice job, guys.
Aliya: And ALTIUS is away,
but there's no time for congratulations just yet.
Will it link up with Miss Piggy?
Will it do what it was built to do?
We have good telemetry.
Aircraft is flying level at 7,300 feet.
Slowing down. About to begin wing extension.
The next step will be to perform our mission.
We are going to be recording wind speeds
and wind temperature, wind humidity,
all of that, and making sure that all of that data
that we're recording from the ALTIUS matches the P3.
Aliya: Akshar loads a dropsonde
to measure the atmosphere,
then launches a bathythermograph, or BT,
to provide an ocean temperature comparison.
Alright, BT's up.
Aliya: Between these and the ALTIUS,
the NOAA team is flush with data.
ALTIUS is currently reporting
a sea surface temperature of 28 degrees.
That's 5000 feet, so it'll probably warm up
as we go down.
What does the BT say?
29.
Joe: I think it's around 29.
(Indiscernible radio chatter)
I'm getting a nice flow of data.
Man: We know exactly what those fish
are experiencing right now.
What their vat temperature is like.
♪
The next thing we're going to do is fly very, very low.
We're going to get down to about 100 feet off the ocean.
I talked before about how the storm eats
and how it feeds itself using,
uh, the evaporation from the ocean.
To really understand how that works,
you got to get really, really low,
right near that air-sea interface.
Aliya: As the test flight winds down
and the crew begins to process their findings,
it isn't lost on anyone how rare this day is.
We do have to look at the data.
I have to calm down a little bit.
We have to compare the data with the data we have here.
But looking at it initially, it looks very promising.
Perfect.
Data you can pull out of.
Okay!
It's not on gauge.
Aliya: With a payload of fresh data
plus thrilled scientists and engineers,
Miss Piggy turns towards home.
A.J., what an unforgettable moment
that you got to be a part of.
That is so cool.
Absolutely.
I can't emphasize it enough.
What we all just witnessed really was history being made
when it comes to hurricane science.
Wow.
Okay, so what happens next?
Well, so now Miss Piggy comes home.
And after the break, I learn how close NOAA is
to actually deploying this new drone in a real hurricane.
(Instrumental rock music)
♪
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(Engine whooshing)
This is the Mightiest Weather Warriors.
Now, we've seen the NOAA hurricane hunters
hard at work on a new tool to add to their research arsenal.
Well, and hopefully the data that drone collects
will help them save even more lives.
Yeah, the possibilities are incredibly exciting,
but a successful test flight is really just the beginning.
(Light instrumental music)
(Engine whooshing)
Back on solid ground,
the crew is exhausted but elated.
Wow.
I mean, now that's a qualified success.
That unbelievable.
So I think everybody on this plane should be really proud
of everything they accomplished, so...
Yeah, kudos to everybody. That's huge.
Science looked really good on it.
There's a ton of data to comb through,
that'll be good for us as well.
Early indications suggest this was a, this was a win.
I just want to say too,
I've flown a lot of test missions
and it rarely goes like this, and it just went perfectly.
And it's a great team effort
and I'm just really proud of everybody,
and just unbelievable.
Thank you, really.
Get used to it.
(Laughter)
I will!
It would be a shame not to recognize
how much time and effort it takes to get to this point.
And how every little step has to be overcome
and how much, again, teamwork goes into
just arriving at this point.
Aliya: Years of hard work
capped by a test passed with flying colours
leaves everyone excited, and ready for more.
1001 tiny miracles have to occur,
and so today, we got all of them.
We flew for over three hours with ALTIUS,
we collected all the data that we needed to collect,
and I think we met every single requirement.
(Indistinct chatter)
Dr. Joe Cione: Probably the best thing of all
is that we are now positioned to use this platform,
the ALTIUS-600, in hurricanes this year.
Going into this flight,
that was absolutely not a certainty at all.
Now it's absolutely on the table.
Not only on the table, likely.
♪
(Whooshing)
I'm a scientist. I'm very curious about things.
I'm okay with that...
But ultimately, I want to help people.
(Dramatic instrumental music)
This is a platform that is ready to tackle
one of mother nature's hardest and most violent storms.
♪
(Thunder crashing)
(Winds gusting)
And, you know, we were able to potentially advance the science
to the point where we help save people's lives
and protect property.
And that's what NOAA's overall goal is
and I'm really excited about it.
Aliya: Under clear skies,
the sun sets on Miss Piggy,
as well as this milestone achievement.
But the next time dark clouds and high winds
threaten the tropics, this P-3 Orion,
and now the ALTIUS-600 is tried, tested, and ready for the hunt.
♪
(Musical flourish)