Experiencing turbulence on a commercial airliner through a patch of fluffy clouds is one thing. Anyone who’s ever had the privilege of soaring through the air in a metal bird has felt that. A rumble here. Fasten your seatbelt there. You know, a little tension but in the end? No big whoop.

Flying through the worst storm in the history of the Western Hemisphere as a “hurricane hunter” and experiencing turbulence like no human in an aircraft has ever felt before — by choice? In the name of science?

Beyond insane. But 13 people did it aboard a NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) P3 aircraft this past weekend.

And lucky for us, one of the mechanics on board — Lonnie Kregelka — recorded it all from the cockpit of the plane and posted the video on Facebook. Watch as the crew flies through 200 mph winds and rain right into the monster storm itself.

To set it up, here’s a snippet from KATU:

“We were thumped really hard today making our first penetration in Patricia. +3G and -1.5G,” Joseph Klipper, who was at the helm, wrote on Facebook. “3G” means they felt forces pulling them that was three times that of standard gravity, and -1.5 G meant it was an opposite push 1.5 times the force of standard gravity. Usually the only way you experience those numbers is if you’re on a crazy roller coaster or warming up as a passenger with the Blue Angels.

“The last ten seconds of this video we hit a up draft followed immediately by a down draft. A very sporting day!” Klipper continued. “Airspeed swings from 240 to 170 knots while attempting unsuccessfully to maintain 210 knots… We were thumped so hard that our flight directors keyboard flew off his station and all of his data was dumped. We circled for a hour afterwards as he reconstructed the penetration, made more difficult by the fact the we encountered record setting pressures and airspeeds.”

Alas, here is the actual video:

 

One of the NOAA pilots, aboard the P3 for the dangerous mission and who’s logged more than 3,800 flight times hours in his career, said the ride was the bumpiest he’s ever encountered:

“Some of the most experienced among our group said Patricia definitely approached their top five of most turbulent flights they’d ever done,” [Lt. Cdr. Patrick] Didier said. “We experienced a few big jolts before punching out of the wall of the eye into the other side. Some of the keyboards flipped and papers got loose in the cabin.”