WATCH: Hurricane hunter shares video of flight into Hurricane Ian before Florida landfall  

(Gray News) - The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sent a plane on a rough flight into Hurricane Ian to collect data on Wednesday morning.

A video shared by hurricane hunter and engineer Nick Underwood showed what was a turbulent flight for the crew operating the instruments inside the aircraft.

“When I say this was the roughest flight of my career so far, I mean it,” Underwood tweeted alongside the video. “I have never seen the bunks come out like that. There was coffee everywhere. I have never felt such lateral motion.”

Hurricane Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa on Florida’s west coast at about 3:05 p.m. Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, part of the NOAA.

Ian remained a Category 4 storm into Wednesday evening, about 5 miles east of Punta Gorda. Maximum sustained winds stayed near 140 mph with higher gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center.

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