for.

how about for some months, cindy carter has lived looking forward to each saturday. that's when she takes flying at the centerville airport. this particular she is hoping it, will be one she would never forget right now. happy girl, a bit of a gurgler with little on her mind right now, except her flying and the possibility she might solo today. yet within hours, she will face

the greatest challenge of her life life. it seems a fine day for flying.

com air and low hanging clouds. but appearances can be. a low pressure system. drawing in warm exceptionally, moist surface air from the gulf of mexico with low level very dry hot air from the southwest and cold dry surface air from the north. unaware of the dramatic weather changes just over the horizon, cindy and her instructor continue the lesson. throttle back. now the newly until the wing line. full power nose back up to her right. hey i did that one real nice in that and then that breath stopping moment every student pilot waits for when when the instructor says make this a good landing and you can let me out. you're ready to.

that's good. just go out and come back. okay. all right. yeah. call in if you have any trouble. right. be careful. a joyous moment never to be forgotten. alone in control. a powerful engine throbbing up front and empty sky above. all right. with the world. or so it seems, as the hot, dry air meets the moist gulf air, a squall line forms. turbulence grows as the cold moves in. as storms move into the influence of the jet stream

aloft, they can become more intense. these are the ingredients needed to trigger tornadoes. trying to expect the unexpected. weathermen today, the incredible advantage of being able to see the weather from high above. one of the enormous benefit that has come from our space research program conducted by the national aeronautics space administration, nasr. though tornadoes remain largely a mystery. in laboratory work sponsored by the national oceanic and atmospheric administration and nasser actual baby tornadoes are created for extensive to help men understand the nature of phenomena. but the real is still beyond the

control of men across the state. far from sending the tornado of the day, forms and quickly dies. but the storm cloud that it lives on building with power from the sun and unstable as it moves towards its destiny. in centerville. fortunately, ominous signs of potential danger have been spotted by weather satellites and relayed to the severe weather in kansas city. in a given year, more than 600 tornadoes can be expected to down in the united states. though, prevailing temperatures and air make the central states most tornadoes can happen any place at any time, day or night. the clouds are a concern for cindy's instructor. she must be warned so she can land before the storm in by

five, nine,. 75940. five nine or seven. intent on her solo flying cindy, her radio turned off and cannot hear the urgent call. here's a weather bulletin in, folks. the national weather service has just issued a tornado warning for area. satellite photographs and, ground observation indicate that the storms system now moving our way may produce tornado at any time. 5940. 559440940. i was just about to give you a call. it's getting kind of bumpy here. tell me, where are you right now. in the area near the old water

tower. okay, listen very carefully. we've got a squall moving in here with tornado and it's almost on is what you're heading right now by the u.s. your right? yes, i oh, yeah. i see it now. okay. listen, very. often and they have a unicom there and a man on the field follow road to be able to contact them on unicom and they'll help you get down. you understand? okay. yeah. good girl. flying to safety away from the storm. cindy now faces the challenge of making her first solo landing at an unfamiliar the airport, just about a half a mile, three quarters of a mile away. that's good. now we're about 30 degrees. more to the left. i want you to come around to the left about 30 more degrees and then try to line up on final. now you'll be landing on 2300 feet. there's a little bit of a hill, but we run airplanes in and out here every day. that's all right.

now you've got trees and wires over, your threshold. so i want you to in with our on and bring it in just a little bit high. i want to make sure that you play those straight. all right. now bring it around about 31 degrees to the left, little lows and get some air in there. but keep your speed up, too. very good. gently, gently. it now nice and easy does bring it around. bring it around to the left. okay. pull flaps on. now you're lined up the runway nice and easy. go drop the right wing. get the right down now, cindy. there you go. okay, now let's pull flaps. and i don't know what. watch those movements. have some. don't start your flare. you don't start to speed up your speed up. okay. now back on the second step, the power. got the power and hold that stack all the way back. looking real good. looking good, looking just fine. now start to apply your start to vibrate a stick all the way back. you've got it made. cindy, erin, thanks for the

help. and i have to say, my third o the tornadoes knocked down all the lines to centerville but you come on in here and have a cup of coffee we'll get away from you. all right. the storm again goes through an eerie gyration gyration inside the air has begun upward spiral until a funnel. innocent looking but deadly. a tornado with winds that may reach 300 miles an hour. it's just a curiosity till touches down to earth. then anything in its path may be totally the most and unpredictable in nature. attention. this is a tornado alert. a tornado has just been spotted. take cover immediately. we repeat, this is a tornado alert. take cover immediately.

right. the next day, cindy brings the airplane back home. through. now, skies over centerville. she finds a different town than she left yesterday. then it was like a thousand others. today. incredible as it yesterday's

tornado lasted but a few minutes and covered a few miles, but left in its wake the tragic scars of unbelief of of violence and the lights across. the street went out before we ran. you got under the bed. the kids did. i couldn't get under their. it is like, boy, the lions houses, the scene and everything started falling in on top of me. what did it sound like last night when? the storm started? well, it went gross. goose, stop. one and goose within little storm and not just it sounded in the hail thing like that big cellar door. and the news man from the local radio has located cindy's parents and relayed word she is safe. now you have a pile of rubble that you once lovingly and finally called a home. what do you do now?

oh, really? just. we've got our kids. we're lucky we. really are. now aware of her parents safety. cindy can finally relax. it's been a narrow escape, but fortunately, this time there was just enough of a warning to save many lives. and tomorrow may, bring even more advanced techniques to help forecast exactly when where tornadoes strike. meanwhile, the satellite developed by nasa will continue. look for the tornado below.