Can an airline allow flights to take place if part of the flight is ABOVE a hurricane?

Question

Imagine flying from Chicago to Miami with an active hurricane occurring beneath the flight path but far from either the starting or end point. Since an airplane flies above the weather, will the FAA allow this flight?

Answer 1

We would want to avoid the area because of convection (heat rising) and cumulous nimbus (thunderstorm) clouds that would be much higher than a commercial aircraft could fly.

The convection would likely cause severe to extreme turbulence over a large hurricane; thus a sigmet would be issued, thereby prohibiting flight planning through the area.

However, if it were a relatively minor hurricane, or tropical storm with no associated weather phenomena, it might be possible to plan overhead.

Answer 2

I don't know if the FAA has regulations about requiring the plane to land anywhere in between in an emergency. In Asia, I have flown over typhoons before. The plane took off as soon as the typhoon left, then we beat the typhoon to the destination and landed. By the way, that flight path was mostly over water, so there wasn't gonna be any landing in between anyway.

Answer 3

Yes, but the airline would determine it based on how high the cloud tops of the hurricane are, and how difficult it would be to go around the hurricane.

If the hurricane is small and could easiyl be flown around, they would ussualy do that. If they would be unable to fly around it, they would fly at high altitudes above the storm

Answer 4

yes

Answer 5

I do not believe so.