Do folks really do this?

[wolfvgang22]

From http://www.newsoftheweird.com :

Among the beach attractions on the Caribbean island of St.
Maarten: bracing oneself in the sand at the beach at the end of the
runway at Princess Juliana International Airport and trying to
remain upright as airliners take off. (Jumbo jets' blasts have been
known to topple vans.) A March Chicago Tribune dispatch
described the giddiness of several tourists (who defied posted
warnings), one of whom was "tossed in the air like a human shot
put." Said another man, slowly pulling himself to his feet after a
take-off, "I couldn't resist. [My wife and I] are both doing things
we'd never do [back home] in Ohio."

[archon218]

sounds dumb thing to do.

[WantMD]

Indeed people do this. You can spend hours at Sunset Beach Bar looking at tourists line up at the fence in back of a KLM 747 or Air France A340.

Looks like lot of fun, but I'm too chicken to line up myself. People have been injured by debris hitting them in the head. For the most part though, it looks pretty fun.

WantMD :-)

[JewishDr'sWife]

It's only people under 80 pounds that get punted, and that's only if they don't hold onto the fence. The only real danger is standing in the sand and getting blasted, which will happen to you when wind kicks up (airplane or no airplane involved)

My biggest tourist laugh was when this guy stood at the edge of the beach with a super fancy $1,000.00 camera to take pictures of the plane. His shirt flipped over his face, the camera shot 3 feet in the air and by the force of his arms going up over his head landed with a loud kerplunk into the ocean.

Did anyone else see the big crowd waiting for the planes to land Sunday? It's turning into a major picnic event!

[secret.asian.man]

well, i live about 200 feet away from the end of the run way in caravanserai and everytime when i encounter one of those (as my three-year-old boy delicately describes) "jumbos" take off, my 3-cylinder Daihatsu Charade wants to take off into the water as well. i was told that they put fenses up because there were too much problems people and Atos's flying away into Bliss... :wink: ain't no joke man...

gotta try it sometime though... after i get my life insurance.

[teratos]

After a dozen beers it seemed the logical thing to do. It was wicked cool. G

[anencephalic]

After a dozen beers it seemed the logical thing to do. It was wicked cool. G

Hell yes we do it! It is a blast...if you come over from Saba, give us a holler and we'll have some drinks at Sunset Beach Bar when the Corsair and AIr France come in, and we'll hang on the fence when they take off! Good times...

Aloha,

[rdecastro]

I heard about it on **** Harvey yesterday. Now, the ED's will be full of geezers who flew down just to try it.

[microphage]

Not sure if many other people heard about this, but last semester some moron of a tourist threw a football at one of the planes....

The pilot came out of the airport with police to the beach to ID the man and fine him 5 grand for his stupidity.

[levator]

From http://www.newsoftheweird.com :

Among the beach attractions on the Caribbean island of St.
Maarten: bracing oneself in the sand at the beach at the end of the
runway at Princess Juliana International Airport and trying to
remain upright as airliners take off. (Jumbo jets' blasts have been
known to topple vans.) A March Chicago Tribune dispatch
described the giddiness of several tourists (who defied posted
warnings), one of whom was "tossed in the air like a human shot
put." Said another man, slowly pulling himself to his feet after a
take-off, "I couldn't resist. [My wife and I] are both doing things
we'd never do [back home] in Ohio."

one of the coolest things to see on this island... seating at sunset, having a drink and a burger and one of your good friends runs over to the fence about 100 feet away and holds on with dear life along with some teenager girls. the air france airbus puts it on full... and you see a bunch of legs flying up in the air while they hold on and the same time the beach turns into a sandstorm... its an awesome sight.

if anyone wants to see some pics, go to www.airliners.net and search for keyword SXM and put in 747 airplanes... awesome pics.

PS. under my gallery under my profile i have a pic that some of the newbies can look at and see what we are talking about.

later,

[teratos]

Not sure if many other people heard about this, but last semester some moron of a tourist threw a football at one of the planes....

The pilot came out of the airport with police to the beach to ID the man and fine him 5 grand for his stupidity.

Wow, the dude had a good arm. G