Caribbean - sea, beaches and islands. This is an area popular among lovers of beach tourism, diving, surfing and much more exotic things. St Martin's Island is no exception to this. The island has it all. Beaches, exoticism, the Caribbean Sea and Caribbean flavor are brought together. The island of St. Martin is part of the Lesser Antilles archipelago and, accordingly, the water area Caribbean Sea. Despite such a small area, 87 sq. km, the island is divided between two countries - France and the Netherlands.
The hilly terrain, sparsely covered with green forests and sandy beaches against the backdrop of the blue sea, attract travelers from many countries around the world. Surprisingly, getting to the island is not difficult. There is an international airport on the island. In 1942, during World War II, an airstrip was built on the island. In 1944, Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands visited the island and landed on this runway. A year later, the Dutch authorities opened a small airport on this site, which later grew into an international one.
Princess Juliana Airport, also known as Saint Martin International Airport, serves the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin. In 2007, the airport served almost 1.7 million passengers and 104 thousand. aircraft, which is still his record to this day. The airport serves as the air hub for the Windward Islands and is the main gateway to the smaller Leeward Islands, including Anguilla, Saba, St. Bartholomew's Island and St. Eustatius Island.
Princess Juliana Airport is one of the most most dangerous airports world, with high landing complexity. It gained such fame due to the very low altitude when landing on the runway, and also because Maho Beach and the sea are practically adjacent to the runway. The History Channel ranked it as the 4th most dangerous airport in the world.
Despite the fact that Princess Juliana Airport has a high landing difficulty, two accidents have occurred here in its history. The first occurred on May 2, 1970, when McDonnell Douglas DC-9CF Flight 980 crashed into the sea near the beach. 22 people out of 57 were killed. The weather at that time did not allow landing the first time, the pilots decided to make several more attempts, but, alas, they ran out of fuel. Second - December 21, 1972 flight Air France The De Havilland Canada Twin Otter took off from Guadeloupe but crashed into the sea on approach, killing all 11 passengers on board along with both pilots.
Maho Beach is a very popular tourist destination. People come here not only for swimming. The close proximity of Princess Juliana Airport and Maho Beach has caused a huge flow of photo tourists to come here. The plane, when landing, flies over the heads of tourists at an unaccustomed height of 20 meters, and sometimes flies at an altitude of 10 meters from the heads of tourists.
We can say that the island of St. Martin is more popular among photo tourists than among beach lovers. Almost everyone who comes to Princess Juliana Airport, after leaving the airport, does not go to the hotel, but goes straight to the beach to take a photo of themselves against the backdrop of a landing plane that flies overhead.
The size of the runway is also small. Only 2180 by 45 meters. The strip is capable of carrying up to 40 runs per hour. The area of the passenger terminal is 10,400 square meters. m, it also has 36 registration windows and 8 immigration terminals.
Let's talk about the unusual airport - Princess Juliana... Imagine: you are lying on the beach, basking in the rays of the sun, drying off after another swim in the warm sea, pouring warm sand in your palms, looking at the slowly passing clouds and suddenly... Instead of a seagull right above A huge airliner rushes past you with a terrible roar!
Under the wing of an airplane...Princess Juliana Airport
And this is not the script for an action-packed film. You can see and experience all this by visiting the island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean Sea. In the southwest of the island, on the territory of the self-governing state of the Netherlands, Sint Maarten, is located one of the most dangerous airports in the world - Princess Juliana Airport. Its danger is that it is located close to Maho Beach.
The length of the runway is very short, a little more than 2 km, so planes are forced to land, literally, flying no more than 20 meters above the heads of vacationers. At the same time, they create a huge air flow that forms waves. Landing liners create excellent conditions for windsurfers.
Probably, if they asked me: ? I would recommend Sint Maarten...
There is probably no person who has not heard of the Caribbean. This place is famous for its beach tourism, diving, surfing and other exotic activities.
The island of St. Martin has attracted special attention, because it contains the Caribbean flavor, the sea, numerous beaches and exotic nature. It is part of both the Caribbean Sea and the Lesser Antilles, and is also the dividing link between two states - the Netherlands and France. Another attractive detail is that getting here is quite easy, because Princess Juliana Airport, which has international status, is located here.
It all started with the fact that back during the Second World War, or rather in 1942, the first runway was built on the island. Two years later, in 1944, Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands flew here on a personal visit, after whom this air hub was later named - Princess Juliana Airport.
Literally one year later it was no longer just a take-off/landing runway, but a small and cozy hub, which gradually grew into an international air hub. Locals also call it St. Martin's air terminal, since it serves the Dutch part of the population. In 1964, the building was completely reconstructed.
A little about the airport
The island of St. Martin is small in size and occupies only 87 km², which did not prevent it from gaining popularity and made it possible to locate the necessary air hub on its territory. Interestingly, this enterprise ranks 4th in the ranking of the most dangerous airports in the world.
This is explained by the fact that the end part of the runway is located directly on the seashore, closely adjacent to the territory of the famous Maho beach. When aircraft land or take off, the height is only 10 to 20 meters above the beach where crowds of tourists relax.
As for the main characteristics of the air hub, it is equipped with one runway with a length of 2.3 thousand meters, which is barely enough to accommodate large airliners. Its capacity per hour is from 36 to 40 runs. There is an aircraft taxiing area of 48 thousand m², a terminal area of 10.4 thousand m² with an annual capacity of 1.5 million people, about 36 registration points and 8 for immigrants. There is a separate cargo terminal located on an area of about 2 thousand m². A full-fledged parking area with an area of 10.3 thousand m² has been created.
A kind of record was set in 2007, when there was a large influx of tourists, and passenger traffic amounted to about 1.7 million people. The flights were carried out by more than 104 aircraft from different air carriers.
Opinions and impressions of tourists
It's rare that an airport terminal itself becomes something of a tourist attraction, but this hub has managed to achieve such unspoken status. As described earlier, the small beach is adjacent to the runway, and during peak hours it literally resembles an anthill of numerous vacationers who are waiting for the takeoff/landing of the next flight. It is at such moments that tourists try to take unique photos, because aircraft fly very low. The airport serves flights from companies such as KLM, Air France, United, Delta Air Lines and US Airways.
Even from remote corners of the island, people come here for a dose of extraordinary sensations. It’s not every day that you can see a picture when a multi-ton aircraft passes over crowds of observers several tens of meters above their heads.
Local authorities do not prevent this hobby, although in other countries such actions are prohibited from the point of view of tourist safety. Those who are vacationing here not for the first time recommend visiting the turtle beach, located nearby, but with fewer visitors. Its territory overlooks the runway fences, which allows you to admire the process of takeoff and landing of aircraft.
Outwardly, it looks quite attractive and unusual, although St. Juliana Airport is a difficult object to pilot. Landing is carried out in most cases according to visual indicators, since on one side the hub is surrounded by the sea, on the other by a mountain range. Experienced pilots know that in such cases the use of active piloting is required with the obligatory departure to the right side. The presence of wind, a natural phenomenon observed here quite often, forces pilots to take off towards the sea.
Some adventure and extreme seekers have found entertainment here, which involves maintaining balance on the water under the air currents emanating from the aircraft's jet engines, which has practically become almost a kind of sport. There are practitioners who have fun doing this on the beach, when air currents lift the sand, causing something like an artificial hurricane.
Nightlife on the island
When the sun sets, the focus of tourists moves towards restaurants, bars and clubs. Their main part is also made in the aviation style, and special speakers are installed on the stands, transmitting conversations between the hub dispatchers and aircraft pilots. Schedules of upcoming flights are written on surfboards so that tourists are always up to date.
In 2017, the Princess Juliana airport suffered significant damage due to the impact of a hurricane and was therefore closed for a certain period. Currently, there is no information about its closure, which means everyone can see with their own eyes all the beauties of the country, the island and the hub itself.
IN last years interest in holidays in this region has increased, despite the fact that its cost can hardly be called low. The country's authorities are taking all measures to attract flows of vacationers by improving conditions, developing infrastructure and expanding the list of entertainment.
In contact with
For those who are afraid of flying :)
1. international Airport Princess Juliana, Fr. Saint Martin
This post has been translated and compiled specifically for Pikabu.ru (you should finally go to it :))), just kidding :) in fact, we are growing and thriving)
Princess Juliana International Airport serves Sint Maarten, the Dutch part of the island of St. Maarten. It is the second busiest airport in the Eastern Caribbean. The runway is only 2,180 m long - barely enough for large airliners. Pilots have to land very low, right over Maho Beach.
That's why this place is so popular among plainspotters. It is difficult to believe the authenticity of the photographs of giant airliners flying at an altitude of 10-20 meters above sunbathing tourists, however, they are real. Despite the difficult take-off and landing conditions, not a single accident has been recorded at this airport.
Here's a video of the landing:
2. Juancho Airport - Irauskin, Saba Island
Juancho Airport is the only airport on the Caribbean island of Saba, Netherlands Antilles. It is widely known among experienced pilots for its runway size.
Juancho Airport occupies quite a large area small island Saba. Some experts are of the opinion that the airport is one of the most dangerous in the world, despite the fact that no accidents have occurred here. There is an X on each side of the runway, indicating that the airport is closed to commercial aviation.
The location of the airport poses a threat. On one side there are high mountains, and on the other - the sea and steep cliffs. The danger is that the plane may go off the runway when landing or taking off.
3. Courchevel Airport
Courchevel is the largest ski resort in the world, located in the French Alps. Courchevel Airport is notorious in aviation due to its short runway, 525 m (1,722 ft) long and with a slope of 18.5%. You have to approach and take off on a slope to set the required speed.
Who can land here? Well, Pierce Brosnan would be on that short list. This is the airport shown at the beginning of the movie Tomorrow Never Dies. For others, the only way to get here is by private jets, helicopters, charter flights. Pilots undergo extensive training to land at the CVF.
You can skip straight to the 4th minute, before that there is a lot of talking and flying. And judging by the video, it’s really very difficult to land...
4. Gustav III Airport, Saint Barthélemy
Gustav III Public Airport is located in Saint-Jean on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy. Most passenger planes, such as the Twin Otter, carry fewer than twenty passengers and are designed to give vacationers a view of the island from above. The short runway runs along the slope and ends right at the beach. Planes take off over the heads of tourists, there are signs everywhere prohibiting standing at the end of the runway.
And here crash plane at this airport
5. Barra International Airport
Barra Airport is the only airport in the world where planes land on a beach. The airport is located on the wide beach of Tri Moor, on the Isle of Barra, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. If you want to travel here by commercial plane, you can book tickets with British Airways, with flights to Barra from Glasgow and Benbecula.
The airport is literally flooded by high tide once a day. If you arrive in the evening, you will notice several cars in the parking lot with their headlights on. This is additional lighting since the airport is not designed for night flights. You probably won't want to walk along the beach at Barra Airport unless you're an aviation fan. For such cases, signs are placed everywhere: “When the windsock is raised and the airport is operating, it is prohibited to be on the beach.”
landed right on the beach)) it looks so unusual)
6. Madeira Airport (Portugal)
Madeira International Airport, also known as Funchal Airport and Santa Catarina Airport. It operates national and international air services on the island of Madeira. Madeira Airport is considered one of the most dangerous due to its short runway surrounded by high mountains and the ocean. This arrangement and length of the runway makes landing very difficult even for the most experienced pilots.
Previously, the length of the runway was only 1400 m, but after a plane crash in 1977, it was decided to increase the length of the runway by 400 m. In 2003, the runway was completely rebuilt, almost doubling the original length due to an external structure over the ocean, which is located at 180 reinforced concrete pillars about 70m high
For the extension of the new runway, Funchal Airport received the Outstanding Structures award from the international association IABSE. In Portugal, this award is considered the "Oscar" of engineering structures.
7. Lukla Airport, Nepal
A huge mountain on one side, and a kilometer-long cliff on the other. And this is at an altitude of 2900 m, not much depends on you here.
Lukla Airport is a small airport in eastern Nepal. In January 2008, the Nepalese government announced that the airport would be renamed in honor of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach the summit of Everest. The airport is very popular as the city of Lukla is where many people begin their climb to Everest. You can read more about this airport
There is an unusual airport, considered one of the most dangerous in the world..
Princess Juliana International Airport is located in the Dutch part of the island, and is unique in that its runway starts almost right next to Maho Beach, and since its length is not very long (only 2300 meters), all planes land very low altitude right above the beach.
Staring and taking breathtaking pictures of low-flying aircraft is perhaps one of the most popular activities among the many tourists who gather on Maho Beach during the arrival of aircraft. In many local bars and cafes you can see their arrival times.
But, despite such a harmless event from the outside as the landing of a liner, it can pose a real danger to people standing under it on the beach.
And the point is not even that the airliner can fall on people; by the way, in the entire history of the airport (it has been operating since 1942) there have never been such incidents here. The problem is the jet streams from landing and taking off airliners, which can blow you into the water. The authorities constantly warn about this - in addition to the barbed wire on the fence, adopted for those who want to sit on it, many corresponding shields are placed along the beaches.
In the entire history of the airport, there have been only 3 incidents here, two of them in the vicinity of the early 80s of the last century, and one at the airport itself quite recently - on January 14, 2014.
In 1970, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 passenger plane flying to Sint Maarten from the United States, after several unsuccessful attempts to land at the airport in bad weather, made an emergency landing directly into the Caribbean Sea. 22 of the 57 passengers and one crew member were killed. It turned out that the airliner ran out of fuel due to several attempts to land the plane, and most of the people died due to the fact that they were not informed by the crew about the upcoming hard landing on water, because of which they did not prepare and did not fasten their seat belts.
The second crash occurred on December 21, 1972 with a small twenty-seater De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft. It crashed at night in the ocean near Saint Martin on its way from Guadeloupe, killing all 11 passengers on board along with the two pilots.
And the third incident occurred a couple of days ago, when a Boenig-747 of the Dutch airline KLM, en route to a parking lot after landing on time, made a left turn instead of a right - because of it, at least 17 cars parked nearby were damaged by its jet blast. They had broken windows and damaged paintwork, but no injuries were reported.
