TO in TS? Tell me about it! Its a fact of life here in the Nam monsoon period. The problem is determining when should a TO be conducted during a tropical TS, and when is it prudant to wait until it passes.
Experience has taught me the wind to be the deciding factor. If its blowing like hell with an unusualy cool TAT it means a very heavey downdraught from some rediculusley high altitude which means its a big bloodey mother of a cell. Expect large windshifts during TO as the passage of the cell progresses, and windshear during the 2nd and 3rd segments.
Ive read conflicting reports in the cyberpapers. Did he abort and run off the runway or got blown off during taxy for line-up? Ive used KotaBaru as an alternate for Sai Gon on occasions (when there was still fuel there) and I know that taxy-way can be a real bitch in heavey rain at night.