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 stream. They had broken windows and damaged paintwork, but no injuries were reported.
Mai Khao Beach(Mai Khao, Mai Khao, Mai Khao) or "the beach where planes land", as tourists call it, is located near Phuket airport. You probably already realized that this beach is very good not only for our usual pastime: sunbathing and swimming, but also for stunning photos against the backdrop of planes taking off or landing.
Mai Khao Beach. The same beach with airplanes
The main highlight of Mai Khao beach is the planes flying low over it as they land. The strip starts right a few meters from the shore line and planes fly very low overhead! As far as I know, there are only two beaches in the world where planes land and fly overhead so low: Phuket and California. So if you're in Phuket, don't miss this unique opportunity to take breathtaking photos and videos.
In fact, it is a very interesting experience when a huge Boeing flies 20 meters above your head. After it lands, it can reverse the turbines and then hold on to your hats and caps and get ready to stand on your feet! You will be blown away by a powerful stream of air! Overall, it's a very cool experience and I highly recommend visiting Mai Khao Beach.
Apart from the planes flying overhead, Mai Khao Beach has another special feature. Along the beach there are not palm trees, but coniferous trees! To say that we were surprised to see them is an understatement. The downside of coniferous trees is the needles. And since there are no sunbeds on this beach, and after the scorching sun we wanted to seal in the shade, we went to the trees, where we settled down on our towels. As you probably already guessed, after such a rest we had to sweat a lot, shaking off sticky needles from our towels.
In addition, Mai Khao Beach is a high breaking wave. Jumping in a wave, each time trying to jump over its crest, is pure pleasure. If you don’t have time, the wave covers you headlong and throws you towards the shore like a feather... While we were having fun, we almost lost our sunglasses. You might be thinking: what kind of stupid person goes to sea wearing glasses?! but I’ll tell you that it’s me. haha)
Mai Khao Beach. How to get there?
The beach with airplanes is one of the beaches that you can visit on your own. If you are not on Mai Khao Beach itself, then there are a couple of options for getting to this intriguing beach with planes:
- First: You rent a motorbike and enter the name into Google Maps: Mai Kao Beach and calmly drive to this point. There are several hotels on the coast where you can leave your bike for free. That's exactly what we did. After leaving your motorbike, you will need to walk literally 500 meters along the beach towards the airport. The only negative is that the journey from there took about 50 minutes and during this time my butt turned into a pancake.
- Second: the second option is much more convenient, but slightly costly financially. You can order a taxi that will pick you up from the hotel and take you to the beach with the planes in comfort under the light air conditioning. Our friends grouped together and took a taxi, it’s more economical, isn’t it? You can order a transfer using this link.
I also saw groups on VKontakte where you can order a car that will take you to this beach and then wait for you for an hour, after which it will take you back to the hotel. But, unfortunately, I cannot recommend this method; there were cases when the driver simply drove away and left the guys on the beach and they then overpaid for the car.
Where is Mai Khao Beach? How to get there
This map is clickable and if you are logged into your Google account, you can save the location and it will appear in your Google Maps application on your smartphone.
To get to Mai Khao Beach, you need to bypass Phuket Airport. And don’t even think about turning left right after the airport - you’ll hit a dead end and waste time. You need to get onto the main federal highway 402 and a few hundred meters after the airport take the first right. This will be the road 3033 . You need to move along it as far as possible towards the sea. This will be Mai Khao Beach. You can easily find all these roads on Google Maps.
Hotels on Mai Khao Beach
Mai Khao beach is not so rich in hotels and almost all of them are not very cheap. What can you say about them in general - they are very diverse, for every taste and budget. The most popular hotels in Mai Khao are:
- Grand West Sands Resort & Villas Phuket— a luxurious 5* hotel with a water park near the airport (about 8,000 rubles per night for 2 people)
- Maikhao Dream Villa Resort and Spa- large and beautiful villas right in a pine forest, and the beach is literally a minute’s walk away (from 28,000 rubles for a one-bedroom villa with a private pool per night)
- Maikhao Palm Beach Resort— excellent service and literally 2 minutes to the beautiful beach (from 6,000 rubles for double occupancy per night)
- Orchidilla Phuket Mai Khao Beach Houses- a budget complex with holiday houses, with a kitchen, living room and bedroom (from 4,000 per night for a house with a private garden)
- Maikhao Beach Residence— a small cozy and budget hotel (cost per night starts from 5,000 rubles for double occupancy)
- If you want to take good photos, it is best to go to Mai Khao Beach in the first half of the day. At noon, the sun will be directly overhead and it will be difficult to take a photo of a landing plane without lighting up the frame. And in the evening the sun will be directly behind the plane and this is not the best lighting for photography.
- There is practically no infrastructure on Mai Khao, so I strongly recommend taking a towel or sun lounger, as well as water and something to eat.
- Due to the fact that this article will most likely be read by Russian people, I want to warn you that it is forbidden to fry meat and burn fires on the beach... otherwise we know you, yeah)
- The sun is burning like hell on the beach, so be sure to bring a hat and sunscreen. You can hide from the sun's rays in coniferous trees, but keep in mind that they are not rubber. There will be plenty of people like you who want it.
- If someone, like me, needs a fresh shower after the sea: there is a shower at the entrance from the beach to the hotel
For those who are afraid of flying :)
1. Princess Juliana International Airport, o. 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 part of the small island of 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 planes, helicopters, and 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
During the Great Geographical Discoveries, many European countries acquired overseas territories and colonies. Some colonies subsequently achieved independence, but there are places that still remain “under the wing” (remember this phrase, it will be needed a little later) of the Europeans.
This happened with the island of Saint Martin. This small piece of land in the beautiful Caribbean Sea is divided between France and the Netherlands. And almost in half. The northern part of the island is the possession of France, the southern part belongs to the Netherlands. The name of the island is pronounced slightly differently by the French and the Dutch. Saint Martin for the French and Sint Maarten for the Dutch. Translated, both mean “St. Martin’s Island.”
We will not touch the island itself for now, we will only pay attention to that part of it that belongs to the Netherlands, or rather to the western coast of this part. It is here that one of the most dangerous airports on the planet and one of the most dangerous beaches in the world is located. This is Princess Juliana Airport and Maho Beach, which is located right at the start of its runway.
It was Maho Beach that attracted our (and not only our) attention. It is located, as we have already said, in the western part of the island just north of Bergo Bay.
Maho Beach on the map
- Geographic coordinates 18.039228, -63.120539
- Distance from the capital of the Netherlands is about 7000 km
- The nearest airport is across the fence from the beach
What is Maho Beach famous for?
The beach itself is unlikely to evoke strong emotions. This is only 300 meters of sandy coastline up to 20 meters wide. But its southern half... will also not cause any adrenaline until a giant passenger airliner like a Boeing 767 or Airbus A320 flies over your head at an altitude of just a couple of tens of meters. And a plane can fly over the beach at any time of the day or night. As you understand, planes flying over the beach are not an attraction for tourists. Flying over a small beach, the plane lands literally outside its fence.
This is where the phrase “under the wing” comes to mind. Tourists, basking on the sand, are literally “under the wing” of planes landing or taking off over Maho Beach.
The beach and the beginning of the landing strip are separated by a road and a mesh fence. The airport, located just behind the beach, has a fairly limited strip of only 2300 meters long and ends with Simpson Lagoon. This is a fairly short distance for large aircraft. In addition, the runway is limited from the north and east by Simpson Lagoon, and from the south by the bay of the same name as the lagoon. It turns out to be such a narrow tie, surrounded by water, which the plane should hit. He has to descend as much as possible to land at the very beginning of the runway. That's why planes fly over the beach, almost catching the heads of tourists with their landing gear, and that's why the airport is considered extremely difficult to pilot.
It’s natural to see a plane landing or taking off over the beach, and almost at arm’s length, the dream of many extreme sports enthusiasts. They are also called spotters. These are the people who love to watch airplanes. And Maho Beach is the best place for this. Here you can practically scratch the belly of a landing plane (well, if you jump well). Of course, this is a joke; the authorities do not really welcome such an activity. There are danger signs posted all over the beach area, which hardly stop anyone.
There are signs like this all over the beach, but that doesn’t stop anyone. The famous Sunset Bar and Grill cafe is located near the beach. Until August 2015, a loudspeaker was installed here to warn of aircraft approach. On the beach you can see information boards where the schedule of aircraft landings and takeoffs is written.
Completely crazy tourists have the same crazy entertainment, something like “withstand the jet stream.” This is when a group of people tries to get caught in the strong current from a taking off plane and tries to resist. Some people succeed, while others fall off their feet, because the flow speed can reach 160 km/h.
We, as sane people, warn you, as sane people, do not under any circumstances try to repeat this. Games with death will not lead to good things. Moreover, there has already been clear confirmation of this. On July 12, 2017, a 57-year-old tourist from New Zealand was killed when Caribbean Airlines Flight 457 took off from Princess Juliana Airport. The jet stream from the plane strongly threw the woman onto the concrete, as a result of which she died. It’s not for nothing that warning signs are posted on the beach.
You are unlikely to be able to relax on Maho Beach, swim in the gentle Caribbean Sea and sunbathe on the sand in the usual sense of a beach holiday. But you will definitely be able to tickle your nerves and get a killer dose of adrenaline.
For a classic beach holiday, head to the island of San Salvador. It is located 1350 km to the northwest. Well, if finances allow, then to the island of Laucala, located on the other side of the world, 13,000 kilometers from Saint Martin.
- The beach is popular not only among those who like to take selfies in front of a landing plane, but also among windsurfers and skinboarders due to the large waves that periodically appear here, caused by jet streams from taking off planes
- Maho Beach is completely devoid of plant life, as this area is constantly exposed to jet streams from aircraft
- In October 2008, Hurricane Omar blew away all the sand from the beach, leaving only bare rocks. The authorities had to bring sand here from other places and fill the beach again
- In September 2017, Hurricane Irma already tested the strength of Maho Beach
Maho beach photo
Beach Maho video
The famous host of the “Heads and Tails” program Anton Ptushkin in this video will show you what a beach with airplanes overhead is like.
In the Caribbean Sint Maarten (the southern Dutch part of the island of St. Maarten), you can sunbathe under the wing of an airplane: liners flying over Maho Bay are the main attraction of the coast. The snow-white strip of the beach abuts the runway of Princess Juliana Airport, giving all vacationers at the resort the opportunity to enjoy the amazing landscapes. It seems you can reach the planes flying directly overhead. Huge liners, descending, literally knock tourists off their feet: the gusts of wind are so strong that warning signs have been installed on the coast. Smaller copies of signs reading “Low-flying aircraft can cause injury” are the island's most popular souvenir.
The schedule for the nearest landings can always be found in cafes, bars, hotel lobbies and beach restaurants, so keeping track of the approaching aircraft is an easy task. The largest number of planes land here in the morning and afternoon.
When choosing Maho Bay as a holiday destination in Sint Maarten, be careful: planes fly here really often, and the daily noise of the engines - after photographing a couple of dozen planes - can interfere with a pleasant holiday. Be sure to hold your children's hands: the wind gusts when the liners approach are quite strong. To protect the health of children, it is better to use earplugs. When landing giants of the air, you should not hold on to the airport fence: debris and gravel rising into the air can seriously injure you.
You can also watch planes take off and land from the windows of hotels surrounding Maho Bay.
Sint Maarten lies on the south-eastern periphery of the Caribbean hurricane belt and may be subject to typhoons, most likely between July-August and October, so travel during this period is best avoided.
How to get there
The island of Sint Maarten is located in the Windward Islands group of the Caribbean Sea. Most planes land at Princess Juliana Airport, one of the most popular in the region. The most convenient way to get to the island is with transfers in the cities of New York, Philadelphia and Miami. During the high season - from November to May - you can also fly direct from Toronto.
The airline operating in Sint Maarten is Windward Islands Airways International N.V., also known as . It flies internationally from Princess Juliana Airport to the neighboring islands of Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barthelemy, Nevis, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda.
Location
Maho Bay with the beach of the same name is located on the southwestern coast of the island, located in the northern part of the group of Windward Antilles (Leeward Islands, Islas de Barlovento).
