Frighteningly Beautiful...

Here are some pics of planes approaching perhaps the most beautiful airport in the world...Princess Juliana International Airport at Philipsburg on the island of St. Martin (Sint Maarten), which is part of the Netherlands Antilles. Due to the airport's short runways, arriving jetliners, many of which are large double-aisled transcontinental planes, are forced to approach the runway at an exceedingly low altitude, with as little as 60 feet of clearance over tourists relaxing on Maho Beach. This has also made the island one of the best planespotting and photography locations in the world, especially because of the striking juxtaposition of landing planes with the crystal clear, blue water of the Caribbean.

For a video of a plane landing at the airport, go to the following YouTube link...

...and to see a video of people on the beach literally being flung off the sand and into the water due to the jetblast of a 747 taking off, follow this link...

For those who would like to travel to St Martin (and who wouldn't?)...the airport, although small, serves a large number of airlines, including Air Canada, Air France, American, Corsair, Continental, KLM, United, and US Airways, among many others. A new passenger terminal is slated to open sometime this year.