Thursday, July 29, 1999

Is this a photo of an aircraft or a beach?


Maho Beach is definitely one of the most impressive beaches in the world. It’s located on the island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean – St Maarten is part of the Netherlands Antilles. Maho Beach doesn’t stand out from other beaches because of the sea, sand, waves, or anything like that. The beauty of Maho Beach lies in its location immediately adjacent to the Princess Juliana International Airport of St Maarten. The runway of the Princess Juliana International Airport (International Air Transport Association (IATA) airport code is SXM) is rather short so pilots landing the aircraft must touch down at the very beginning of runway 10, otherwise they wouldn’t have enough distance to safely stop the plane. Since Maho Beach is located right across the road from beginning of airport’s runway, landing planes are so close to the people on the beach, you almost feel you could touch the wheels if you jumped up.

Source: Maho Beach in St. Marteen - Planes Landing Above Your Head.