The MoD said it was not related to Olympic security and stressed the response was a standard procedure, although the plane flew out of Northolt where some Typhoons are based for the duration of the Games.
Some 20 typhoons and storms normally lash the archipelago nation each year but the southern provinces are unaccustomed to such fierce weather.
Eight days later, a fuzzy Tiros picture revealed a typhoon some 1,000 miles east of Australia.
By some accounts the typhoon, named Haiyan, ranked among the world's strongest.
Thirteen of them were typhoon-strength, the biggest by some way being typhoon Haiyan, possibly the most powerful tropical cyclone to make landfall in recorded history.
Directed with metronome in hand by Jerry Zaks, this workmanlike production gives few clues to the enduring appeal of Mr. Wouk's tale of possible cowardice and possible insubordination, plus a humdinger of a typhoon, some disappearing strawberries and a nut job memorably named Queeg.
For instance, some prefer using "typhoon," and others prefer using the name of typhoon "Haiyan" or "Sandy" when they discuss the same event at specific time.
Some speculate that typhoon winds blew the ship off course, causing it to strike a coral reef and capsize.
Some thought the Typhoon Haiyan Donate button was just a ploy to score more credit card numbers, but Gleit tells me Facebook is working on a way to let people opt to automatically have their credit card info removed after they donate.
With their good intentions and myriad acronyms, the agencies occasionally offered things the Philippines didn't really need – such as rice that was still available from the country's agricultural regions – but now appear to be co-ordinating well with each other to provide shelter, health and education to the populace, 11 million of whom were affected in some way by the typhoon.
