Photo: Plane Falling From Above

06/10/09  Print This Post Print This Post    7 Comments   Popular   Written by Christine Garvin
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Is it really necessary to have a runway right beside a crowded beach?

During a recent bout of doing entirely too much work, I was dreaming of being on the beach.

Ah, thoughts of sand between my toes, slight breeze running through my hair, the sun beating down on my face. A trashy novel sitting by my side, which I’d glance at in between sips of my daiquiri/bloody mary/pina colada.

I might even paint my toes for the occasion, who knows?

And then, all of a sudden, a cloud begins to block my sun. Not to worry, I’m sure the cloud is just moving lazily through the sky the same way I’m moving through my martini.

The sun will be back in full swing in just a second.

Well, now it seems to be getting even darker out here, as if the sun is totally blocked. And a loud noise and swishing sound is beginning to hurt my ears. Am I going to have to take off my sunglasses, and the cucumbers on my eyes underneath them, to see what is going on?

Photo: W8EB / Feature photo: Richard Moross

Damn you, KLM!!

Got a too-close-for-comfort plane, train, or automobile story? Share your thoughts below.


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About the Author

Christine Garvin

Christine Garvin is a certified Nutrition Educator and holds a MA in Holistic Health Education. She is co-editor of Brave New Traveler and founder/editor of Living Holistically...with a sense of humor. When she is not out traveling the world, she is busy writing, doing yoga, and performing hip-hop and bhangra. She also likes to pretend living in her hippie town of Fairfax, CA is like being on vacation.

7 Comments... join the discussion!

  • Drew replied on June 10, 2009

    heheh… I’ve been to that beach… it’s in St. Maarten, at the end of Princess Juliana airport… and there’s no way (if you were actually there as in your little story) that you wouldn’t've known about it, since there are signs clearly posted…. in fact, the “road” through the beach is actually two concrete trenches for your tires so that you don’t get blown away by low flying aircraft… :)

    It is still pretty cool, though.

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  • Ryukyu Mike replied on June 11, 2009

    Gotta confess it looks a little spooky to me. Damned if I’d be sunnin’ my buns on that beach !

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  • DHarbecke replied on June 11, 2009

    Clearly, the picture is doctored. Let’s be logical: what would all those people be doing on a sandy runway, anyway? :)

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  • Julie replied on June 12, 2009

    Wow if the picture above is real then that must be a contender for the worst beach in the world! It reminds me of all of the old shots of planes coming in to land at the old Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong, flying so low they almost touch the buildings!

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    • Christine Garvin replied to Julie on June 12, 2009

      Julie, it’s definitely real…there are quite a few photographers out there who have shot plans landing there at the Princess Juliana airport. Just Google “Princess Juliana Maho beach photo” and you’ll see quite a few…

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  • Solo Road Trip replied on June 13, 2009

    do ya think those on the beach consider all that noise relaxing? Maybe. But if that jumbo jet even flies over once a day, I agree with Julie — that beach is a contender for worst beach in the world.

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  • Christine replied on June 17, 2009

    I have been to that beach, and been tanning when the planes come in. It is more cool then actually scary. It is one of those the picture looks worse then in actually is but the picture is totally real!

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