http://www.oddee.com/item_93109.aspx 1) Princess Juliana International Airport (Saint Martin) <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zAfQwDizpRo&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zAfQwDizpRo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Princess Juliana International Airport serves Saint Maarten, the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin. It is the second busiest airport in the Eastern Caribbean. The airport is famous for its short landing strip — only 2,180 metres/7,152 ft, which is barely enough for heavy jets. Because of this, the planes approach the island flying extremely low, right over Maho Beach. Countless photos of large jets flying at 10--20 m/30-60 ft over relaxing tourists at the beach have been dismissed as fakes many times, but are nevertheless real. For this reason as well it has become a favourite for planespotters. Despite the difficulties in approach, there has been no records of major aviation incidents at the airport. 3) Courchevel (France) <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uNFNFZq2BFY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uNFNFZq2BFY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Courchevel is the name of a ski area located in the French Alps, the largest linked ski area in the world. It's airport has a certain degree of infamy in the aviation industry as home to a relatively short runway, with a length of 525 m (1,722 ft) and a gradient of 18.5%. It's so short that you have to land on an inclined strip to slow down and take off on a decline to pick up enough speed. Who gets to land here? Well, Pierce Brosnan made the short list. This was the airport used in the opening seen of Tomorrow Never Dies. For the rest of us, private plane, helicopter, or charter are the only ways to go, and your pilot is going to need some serious training before he or she is allowed to land at CVF.
We spent our last few hours in St. Martin at the beach by the airport. It's a ton of fun to go down and stand there as planes fly over you onto the landing strip.. I have some good pics and a video at home of a plane coming right over the top.
The St. Martin video doesn't look real. No one flinches or runs. I have no sound, but I can't imagine standing that close to a plane landing and not getting your ear drums blown out.
It's the right location for sure. But when I was there, the planes were a bit higher than that. Probably at least 50 feet higher.
Yeah, but in that video, there is some rain cloud cover. I would think that the planes would approach lower as a result.
CVG... I get robbed every time I enter that airport.. and the security guards just laugh when Delta rips me off.
If you frame-by-frame it, you can see people (one person, in particular) flinch quite a bit. Actually, I would describe it as "crouching in mortal terror", but you can definitely see it.
OH man I was at St. Maarten a few years ago and I loved being on the beach right when the airplane lands. It gives off a huge wave and you can ride it to shore. What's better is being on the beach in front of the takeoff strip, that gust of wind blows you INTO the water.
Check youtube. There are several of these videos from various sources. I couldn't believe it when I first saw it, either.
I believe Hong Kong's old airport use to be the world's most dangerous airport. IIRC...most planes had to make a U-Turn or something like that in the air land on the runway. Also, the airport was extremely close to the city so planes were always flying extremely low right above buildings, I'll never forget how loud those planes are.
