"It's a stupid human trick and there is nothing we can do about it," an American Airlines pilot told me after we landed at Princess Juliana International Airport on the tiny island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean.
Captain Nelson was talking about "fence surfing," a tradition where thrill-seekers line up on the small fence that separates a popular beach from an airport tarmac.
Here's some context on how this is even possible.
Princess Juliana, the second-busiest airport in the Caribbean, has only one runway that is used for both takeoffs and landings and is so short that it's barely long enough for heavy jets to land on.
What's more, the runway is also bookended by a mountain range and a popular beach.
All planes approaching the island have to fly extremely low over relaxing tourists to land on the 2,300-foot-long tarmac.
This is what my view looked like as a small private jet flew over my head:
After one plane lands, tourists ditch their chairs and run across a narrow two-lane road, mostly barefoot, to secure a spot on the warped chain-link fence.
Don't mind the warning signs.
Cars share the road with the fence surfers, and traffic goes on as usual.
Beach goers wait alongside the edge of the tarmac, gripping the fence, until the aircraft is ready to fire up its jet engine.
And then the "fence surfing" begins.
I took this video of a Delta 757 taking off from across the street. The jet blast begins at the 59-second mark (sorry for the screaming):
The intensity of the blast knocked my body backward, the hot air stung, and the sand pelted my skin — all for about 10 seconds.
This is what getting jet-blasted looks like from a beachfront condo.
Sunset Bar & Grill, the closest beach bar, uses a surfboard to show arrivals and departures of flights so tourists won't miss a chance to see a plane fly over their heads in one direction and another one jet blast them from the opposite way.
The bar also broadcasts air-traffic control announcements from the loudspeakers instead of music.
Since 1943, there have been two major accidents at the airport, one in 1970 and another in 1972.
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