Thrill-seeking tourist killed by jet-engine blast at Caribbean beach airport

A thrill-seeking tourist on the Caribbean island country of St Maarten was killed Wednesday after a blast from a jet that was taking off nearby knocked her down, police said.

The 57-year-old New Zealand woman had been standing at a fence that separates Maho Beach and a runway at Princess Juliana International Airport, police said. The area has become a popular, albeit dangerous, tourist attraction for those seeking to feel the powerful winds of an aircraft’s jet-engine revving for take-off just yards away.

At the time of the incident, the unidentified woman had been hanging onto the fence along with several others, according to a statement from police officials. As a large plane was taking off, the woman was “blown away by the jet blast and was seriously injured,” police said.

Despite immediate response from police and paramedics, the woman died soon afterward at St Maarten Medical Centre, police said.

A police spokesman said it was the first such fatality to his knowledge, though there have been injuries in the past as a result of people trying to stand in the jet blast while clinging to the fence.

The police statement acknowledged that watching planes take off and land at the St Maarten airport is “well known world wide as a major tourist attraction” but notes that doing so is extremely dangerous. Airport and local officials have placed signs along the airport’s chain-link fence, warning them of the dangers of standing there while a plane is taking off, and officers patrol the area during busy hours, police said.

Despite the warnings, the area remains a huge tourist draw for thrill-seekers and aviation enthusiasts. Many videos on YouTube show beachgoers – many still in their swimsuits – lined up along a chain-link fence at the end of the airport’s runway as a plane prepares to take off. The sheer force of the blasts from these jet engines can be seen blowing loose shoes, beach towels and sand straight back into the clear blue waters of the Caribbean behind them. Even those who cling to the fence can have a hard time holding on.