St Maarten Airport Watching Tragedy

Where in that post did I say that the whole beach needed to be closed?

When you say "There is no reason for people to be on this beach" - it doesn't leave many other solutions and implies, obviously, that the beach should be closed to people. It's kind of odd that you are so defensive about this fact. You think the beach should be closed, obviously, and that's cool - so defend your position. But pretending you didn't say what you clearly said, is just weird.

That said, people can take whatever risks they want. Everyone knows they could be injured and bad things can happen. I think the situation sucks, she made a bad choice. But there is no reason to make any changes to the beach access at all any more than banning rock climbing.

So can the majority of the people agree that discussion of closing the beach DID come into play in the earlier posts of this thread as evidenced by the ones I quoted? I agree that later on it switched tone, but I am specifically talking about the 3 I highlighted (37,40, and 46).

Like BNBR says, if you're going to say it, stand behind it. Don't deny it when it's right there in black & white.

And remember,

"Sour people suffer sour lives."

gary

Has anyone ever told you that you are an expert at deflection and redirection? Disrespecting and insulting others, all while trying to convince everyone else you're the victim. Do you think that just because you hide it behind a thesaurus, no one will notice?

This is the 3rd thread in as many days I've seen bUU dig this hole and then pretend to be the victim. Funny thing is, he has been called out in the exact same way each time.

This is the 3rd thread in as many days I've seen bUU dig this hole and then pretend to be the victim. Funny thing is, he has been called out in the exact same way each time.

When you're constantly swimming upstream, alone, it may be time to concede that perhaps the rest of the crowd aren't the ones swimming in the wrong direction.

Some people simply want to control others no matter how they try to disguise it.

For anyone who has been to Maho and gone over to the fence and hung onto it....the only thing that comes to mind is, Common sense is just not common to everybody.

I am sorry for this family's terrible loss but one's personal decisions do and will always have consequences. If one follows the rules at the beach it is an amazing sight to behold. It just makes no sense to be anywhere near that fence.

Regarding installing a blast deflector at the end of the runway at Maho Beach.....

I think the St. Maarten government would have done so long ago, but the vertical clearance for aircraft landing would not be sufficient. In simpler language, it would be too tall. :)

There has already been one instance of an aircraft clipping the fence with its landing gear (KLM 747 if I remember correctly), and a blast deflector would perforce have to be higher...and closer to the runway's touchdown point.

Regarding installing a blast deflector at the end of the runway at Maho Beach.....

 

I think the St. Maarten government would have done so long ago, but the vertical clearance for aircraft landing would not be sufficient. In simpler language, it would be too tall. :)

 

There has already been one instance of an aircraft clipping the fence with its landing gear (KLM 747 if I remember correctly), and a blast deflector would perforce have to be higher...and closer to the runway's touchdown point.

Blast shields can be made to retract into the runway much like they do on aircraft carriers. Not much of an engineering challenge.

Regarding installing a blast deflector at the end of the runway at Maho Beach.....

 

I think the St. Maarten government would have done so long ago, but the vertical clearance for aircraft landing would not be sufficient. In simpler language, it would be too tall. :)

 

There has already been one instance of an aircraft clipping the fence with its landing gear (KLM 747 if I remember correctly), and a blast deflector would perforce have to be higher...and closer to the runway's touchdown point.

The Fence clipper was an Air France plane. Gary told the story to us here on the St. Maarten board and I have never forgotten it. Apparently they lived with the nickname "Air Fence" for quite some time after that.:')

I think folks on this thread are talking about a retractable blast detector that is only put up for take-offs.:) Distance of that short runway still could be an issue, and the reason why this has not been done already.

Yes, "Air Fence". It had happened a week or so prior to our arrival, and we were told that two different flights on two different days did the same thing.

gary

I haven't gone back to re-read (are you kidding me?) but I could swear that closing the beach was floated by boo, based on the premise that there's 36 other beaches on the island. Now, most people will realize that Maho Beach is the face of the island. Many people won't even have a clue what else is on the island, but they know about Maho. The island govt is not likely to kill their golden goose. If anything at all is done, I would guess that it will be on the airport grounds and not the public beach or road.

"Maho Beach is the face of the island" -- "golden goose..."??? Are you kidding? The people who "...won't even have a clue what else is on the island,.." do not contribute much to the island - other than blocking the road around that end of the runway - and keeping a couple of bars busy.

The authorities could do what they want --if they closed it down in the name of public safety it would not hurt the island' economy at all -- it would just cut some cheap thrills for people with little imagination.

I remember a a girl being lifted off her feet a few years back . Most incidents go unreported.

Umm... fatalities, especially dead tourists, tend to get reported.

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