NOAA's 'Kermit' and 'Miss Piggy' hurricane hunter planes mark 50 years of flying into storms

When a tropical storm or hurricane is headed for the US, the NOAA Hurricane Hunters play a critical role in gathering data that feeds the watches and warnings issued across the country. And the two planes central to that data collection are marking a big milestone this hurricane season 50 years of flight.Two Lockheed Martin WP-3D Orion aircraft, nicknamed Kermit and Miss Piggy, are responsible for carrying more than a dozen people into the eye of a storm, and it was in the summer of 1976 that Kermit took his first flight into a hurricane.Fifty years later, the two planes is still flying. Sometimes we like to joke about how we're flying museum pieces through hurricanes, but as far as planes go, in all the important areas, they're relatively new, said Lt. Cmdr. Jacob Ellis, one of the current pilots.FROM THE ARCHIVES | These Planes Fly Into Hurricanes To Study ThemThe aircraft are designed to stand up to strong storm conditions, and they give meteorologists and scientists a chance to co