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Tourists blown away by airplane at iconic beach airport. Dramatic video goes viral
In the video, the wind from the aircraft, as it got ready to fly, impacted those standing nearby. Several people lost their balance and fell on the sand.
Maarten Princess Juliana International Airport, also known as St Martin Airport, is famous across the globe for its aircraft spotting opportunities. The airport is located at Sint Maarten in the Caribbean, and many tourists visit the Maho Beach to photograph and get captured as aircraft fly low there. But tourists should be careful, or else they could get impacted, as a video recently showed. (Also Read | Thai airports welcome travellers with adorable Moo Deng hippo-themed dolls during Songkran. Video)
Maho Beach tourists impacted by outgoing aircraft
A video emerged on X (formerly Twitter), in which an Insel Air airline's MD 80 aircraft was seen taking off from the airport. Several tourists at the adjacent beach waved at the moving aircraft. A few people were also seen standing just next to the fenced airfield. However the sound made it impossible to stand so close to the airport.
People lose balance as they stand close to St Martin Airport
As the video proceeded, the wind from the aircraft, as it got ready to fly, impacted those standing nearby. Several people lost their balance and fell on the sand. A few of them were also seen tumbling and rolling into the water. The video ended with several people pushed back in the water as the wind blew hard. A person was heard saying, "Oh my God. Look at that." Many people also screamed as they recorded the moment.
Internet reacts to video
The video was shared with the caption, "Insane jet blast at St Martin Airport: a tourist gets blown away by MD80 aircraft taking off." Influencer Bryan Johnson wrote, "120-130 db within 100 meters, enough to cause immediate hearing damage." A comment read, "People also forget that the decibel scale is logarithmic, not linear." A person wrote, "The air quality is probably pretty bad, too."
"Yeah, not great for long-term hearing. The youths better listen to this," read a tweet. An X user said, "My tinnitus got worse just watching this." "Not to mention the hot exhaust and fast-moving sand," said another person. "I think someone died once because they were too close to the jet blast. It's dangerous," read another tweet.
