Why aren the storm planes torn apart?
A. Planes are not structurally destroyed by strong winds while in flight. Airliners routinely fly in jet streams with winds exceeding 150 mph over the US during the winter. It’s the shear, or sudden change in horizontal or vertical winds that can destroy an aircraft, or cause its loss of control. That’s why we don’t fly through tornadoes. In a like manner, we routinely (but never casually) fly in the high wind environment of the hurricane and don’t fear it tearing the plane apart. However, we’re eternally vigilant to “hot spots” of severe weather and shear that we can often identify on radar and avoid if it’s too severe.
