Hurricane Hunter crew disciplined

BILOXI, Miss. - Members of the Mississippi-based Hurricane Hunters have been disciplined after their plane made an unauthorized stop to pick up a crew member's motorcycle. The five-member crew was spotted briefly stopping in Martha's Vineyard to load a 1970 BMW R75/5 onto their plane before continuing their assignment to California, The Sun Herald reported. The motorcycle belonged to a crew member. A news release said members of the 403rd Wing aircrew responsible for the stop have faced "both administrative and aircrew qualification-related discipline for misuse of a WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft.” The crew left Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi on March 24 and landed at Quonset Air National Guard Base in Rhode Island. The next day the crew made a detour to Martha’s Vineyard before continuing their assigned mission, which was to pick up equipment from Mather, Calif., the news release said. The crew was grounded in Mather and another crew picked up the aircraft and crew. The motorcycle remains in California. (Source: AP via Clarion Ledger, 05/12/22)