Maho Beach
18°02′23″N 63°07′14″W / 18.03983°N 63.12069°W
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2017) |
Maho Beach | |
---|---|
Airbus A330-200 on final approach at St Maarten Airport | |
Location | Saint Martin |
Status | Open |
Maho Beach is a beach on the Dutch side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, in the territory of Sint Maarten. It is famous for being adjacent to the Princess Juliana International Airport and is a popular site for tourists and plane watchers, who visit the beach to watch aircraft on final approach land at the airport.
Location
Due to the unique proximity of low-flying
Maho Beach is unusually close to the threshold of a runway and is directly under the flight path, resulting in aircraft on their final approach flying over the beach at altitudes of less than 100 feet (30 m) above ground level. This makes the beach a popular location for photographers and video makers who intend to capture the aircraft approaching the airport.
There is a danger of people standing on the beach being blown into solid objects or the water because of the jet blast from aircraft taking off from runway 10. The local government warns that closely approaching and departing aircraft can "result in serious injury and/or death". An additional fence has been added recently behind runway 10, in order to prevent people from hanging onto the main fence surrounding the runway to experience being blasted by the jet flow.
The beach itself is white sand and has little to no vegetation because of jet blast erosion.[1] The Caravanserai Resort, the Sunset Bar and other restaurants/night clubs such as Bamboo Bernies and Bliss are located nearby. The beach is popular with windsurfers and skimboarders because of occasional large waves.
History
On October 16, 2008, the Maho area of St. Maarten was badly damaged by
On 12 July 2017, as Caribbean Airlines Flight 457 was taking off from the airport, a 57-year-old woman from New Zealand was killed by jet blast. The woman was holding on to a fence at the end of the runway when the wind blew her away, causing her head to smash into concrete.[2]
References
- ^ Lee E. Harris, Ph.D., P.E (February 2003). "Site Investigations of the Beach Erosion Problem at Maho Beach, St. Maarten" (PDF). Florida Institute of Technology. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Jet blast kills tourist at airport in Sint Maarten". BNO News. July 13, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017.