![]() To the sound of Bob Marley, of course, an international assortment of guests chug beer and cocktails one after another in a Caribbean ceremonial of life that the sunset would soon turn golden.īather photographs an approaching plane at sunset.įrom there, like so many other visitors dressed in swimsuits and bikinis, we walk over the wall that separates the sand from the road. ![]() In a lucky streak, we took a place at the entrance to the road, almost inside the first of the two bars that close the cove, the tropicalian “Driftwood Boat”. Instead, we point to the slender Beacon Hill Road that runs along the back of the runway. It was time for us to witness it.Īt a final roundabout, we reject Airport Rd. We have known for years of the curious relationship between its beach and the airport onwards. Leaving behind the French-speaking capital Marigot and surrounded by the Simpson Bay lagoon, we find ourselves once again in the vicinity of Maho. We crossed from the Dutch to the Gallic zone. The following afternoon, without haste, we went around São Martinho to the north, against the clock. ![]() We settled in an opposite corner of the island, over an overly urbanized and bright bay, perhaps for this reason, punished by the Atlantic. This initial introduction to SXM aviation – as the Sint Maarten airport is known in code – had little or nothing to do with the next ones. The pilot holds the Twin-Otter almost midway through its 2.300 meters, at the point that allows him to cut across to the Terminal where we and the five or six remaining passengers would disembark. There are hotels and condominiums that close Maho inlet, seconds later, the lonely runway of Princess Juliana. Closer to us, the coastline of Les Terres Basses (French) and, below, the Lowlands and Maho, already Dutch. It was largely filled with the Simpson Bay marine lagoon, one of the largest in the West Indies. And as the pilot steers the plane onto the runway, the western peninsula of Sint Maarten, the Dutch “half” of the Lesser Antille of St. On the left, diffuse, almost submerged in an oil-turquoise-emerald sea, a long, flat island that could only be Anguilla. Lettsome Airport, on the eastern end of the island of Tortola, British Virgin Islands, the small turboprop window framed the approach to the final destination. According to the broadcaster, so far nothing has changed.Our first approach to Princess Juliana and Maho Beach proved, shall we say, conventional.įorty minutes after taking off from Terrance B. She sued the airport and the Supreme Court eventually ruled that the airport had to place clearer and more noticeable warning signs. In 2000 a Swizz tourist was blown over and sustained serious injuries, according to NOS. These jet blasts are strong enough to blow beach visitors over.Īs far as is known, this tourist is the first person to be killed by a jet blast on Maho Beach, but a number of other people were injured over the years. Due to the airport's short runway, large airplanes have to give their jet engines full gas in order to get off the ground. Landing planes pass close over the heads of Maho Beach visitors, almost close enough to touch. The Princess Juliana Airport is a popular attraction for airplane enthusiasts due to its location. She was rushed to the hospital, but died of her injuries.Īccording to 721 News, the victim is a 57-year-old woman from New Zealand. ![]() The woman hit her head against a concrete block. She stood by the fence that separate the beach and runway and was blown away by a departing plane, NOS reports. ![]() A tourist was killed on Maho Beach on Sint Maarten, the beach located next to the runway of the Princess Juliana airport in Philipsburg. ![]()
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