During a Caribbean cruise in February 2017, one of the ports of call was at Philipsburg, St Maarten. This of course meant we had to make a trip to the world famous Maho Beach at the threshold of the runway at St Maarten Princess Juliana Airport.

What an amazing location it is! It is a true experience! We arrived shortly before 10am and stayed the whole day until just after 4pm. Although there were two periods of rain during the day, the weather was mostly very sunny and bright, perfect conditions for spotting.

Due to 7 cruise ships being in port on the day of our visit (22nd February) the beach was extremely busy. Luckily arriving early meant that we secured some seats and a good spotting location on the beach.

Around 14:00 American airlines flight AA518 from Philadelphia established on approach for runway 10. As the airbus a319 approached i noticed he was quite a bit lower than other aircraft had been throughout the day and it was soon clear that this pilot was out to impress and that his approach altitude was lower than usual.

As you can see in the video the aircraft then passed ridiculously close to the beach at a scarily, but awesome altitude which was truly amazing.

The aircraft was just feet above the beach and was a great sight for all beach goers watching from underneath.

Around an hour later the A319 taxied to runway 28 where he started his takeoff role. Although not as low as his landing the pilot again left his rotation late and held it to stay low as he passed over us on the beach.

This clip was filmed on February 22nd 2017


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