Close call landing and Scary TakeOff ar St Maarten Airport

[manfredc3]

Close call at the beach:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD-3pU6nWGQ

This 727-200 barely makes it over the fence


Scary takeoff of MD-80 in opposite direction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzRU...=youtu.be&t=14

Normally aircraft toakeoff towards the hills, away from the beach. Well, this MD-80 goes in the opposite direction. You don't see this one very often. Hold on to your pants!!!!

[Tom Clayton]

The second pilot should be slapped! He was clearly showboating - his gear was halfway up by the time he got to the beach, so he had to have been airborne long before that. He should have been climbing - not buzzing the beach.

[StormILM]

The second pilot should be slapped! He was clearly showboating - his gear was halfway up by the time he got to the beach, so he had to have been airborne long before that. He should have been climbing - not buzzing the beach.

I wouldn't say he was showboating at all. He was likely heavy full of passengers (as are many of the airliners who serve those island). I remember a takeoff of an MD-83 I was riding on at SKCG (also a sea level airport with 1000ft more runway than TNCM). We were full of passengers and had a good bit of fuel on board to cover the distance we had to fly (plus avoid a line of storms in our path). By the time the pilot rotated, we had ate up most of the 8500ft of runway and I felt the gear retract as we passed very low over the roadway that ran parallel to the beach. The pilot built up speed on the initial shallow climb and then entered a fairly steep climbing turn after that. Those Maddog drivers in the Caribbean & Latin America are pretty skilled aviators. I've rode with them to/from a few scary airports!

[stansdds]

One word of advice for the people on the beach.... DUCK!