Category: Aircraft

Boeing 737 MAX Deliveries and Orders – which airlines to avoid after Lion Air Crash

The following graph shows total firm orders and deliveries of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for identified customers, as of September 30, 2018.

Source: Wikipedia as of September 30, 2018.

 

The following table shows total firm orders and deliveries of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft by variant (where known) and customer, as of September 30, 2018.[5]

Order date[n 1] Customer Variant Total Orders Total Deliveries
-7 -8 -9 -10 Unk
June 12, 2015 AerCap — 85 — 15 — 100 2
September 29, 2016 Aerolíneas Argentinas — 5 — — 6 11 2
November 5, 2012 Aeroméxico — 11 2 — 47 60 4
March 31, 2014 Air Canada — 50 11 — — 61 18
December 22, 2014 Air China — 11 — — — 11 11
December 21, 2015 Air Europa — 20 — — — 20 —
July 3, 2012 Air Lease Corporation — 4 — — 164 168 11
December 1, 2014 Air Niugini — 4 — — — 4 —
September 18, 2018 Air Peace — 10 — — — 10 —
October 31, 2012 ALAFCO — 40 — — — 40 —
October 11, 2012 Alaska Airlines — — 32 — — 32 —
February 1, 2013 American Airlines — 100 — — — 100 15
May 9, 2016 Arik Air — — — — 8 8 —
December 20, 2012 Aviation Capital Group — 70 10 20 — 100 3
September 18, 2012 Avolon — 65 10 20 — 95 —
March 17, 2016 Blue Air — 6 — — — 6 —
August 13, 2014 BOC Aviation — 63 — 10 — 73 2
June 1, 2018 Boeing Capital Corporation — — — — 75 75 —
March 21, 2014 Business Jet / VIP Customer(s) — 1 — — 19 20 1
June 14, 2017 CALC China — — — 15 35 50 —
March 14, 2014 China Development Bank — 68 — 10 — 78 —
June 17, 2014 China Eastern Airlines — 11 — — — 11 11
December 17, 2015 China Southern Airlines — 50 — — — 50 11
June 19, 2013 CIT Leasing Corporation — — — — 37 37 —
December 3, 2013 Comair — 8 — — — 8 —
May 30, 2013 Copa Airlines — — — 15 46 61 1
September 27, 2016 Donghai Airlines — 15 — 10 — 25 —
October 29, 2014 Enter Air — — — — 6 6 —
September 1, 2014 Ethiopian Airlines — 30 — — — 30 3
March 31, 2017 Fiji Airways — 5 — — — 5 —
December 31, 2013 Flydubai — 76 — 50 125 251 7
September 12, 2014 Garuda Indonesia — 50 — — — 50 1
September 28, 2012 GECAS — 150 — 20 5 175 8
October 1, 2012 Gol Transportes Aéreos — 105 — 30 — 135 2
June 28, 2018 Goshawk Aviation — 20 — — — 20 —
July 16, 2014 Hainan Airlines — 3 — — 2 5 5
May 21, 2013 ICBC Leasing — — — — 2 2 2
February 12, 2013 Icelandair — 9 7 — — 16 3
June 29, 2018 Jackson Square Aviation — 30 — — — 30 —
April 23, 2013 Jet Airways — 145 75 — — 220 5
December 11, 2014 Jetlines 5 — — — — 5 —
August 17, 2017 Japan Investment Advisor — 10 — — — 10 —
December 14, 2017 JSC Aircompany Scat — 1 — — — 1 1
November 9, 2015 Korean Air — 30 — — — 30 —
February 22, 2012 Lion Air[n 2] — 9 4 100 138 201 13
July 1, 2016 Malaysia Airlines — 15 — 10 — 25 —
November 18, 2016 Mauritania Airlines International — 1 — — — 1 1
May 16, 2014 Nok Air — 8 — — — 8 —
January 24, 2012 Norwegian Air Shuttle — 110 — — — 110 12
May 27, 2014 Okay Airways — — — 9 — 9 —
October 19, 2015 Oman Air — 20 — — — 20 —
April 14, 2017 Primera Air — — 8 — — 8 —
December 29, 2016 Qatar Airways — 2 — — — 2 2
December 21, 2013 Ruili Airlines — — 6 — 30 36 —
November 28, 2014 Ryanair[n 3] — 135 — — — 135 —
April 29, 2014 Shandong Airlines — 3 — — — 3 3
December 30, 2018 Shenzhen Airlines — 2 — — — 2 2
November 9, 2012 SilkAir — 37 — — — 37 5
March 13, 2018 SkyUp Airlines — 2 — 3 — 5 —
November 10, 2014 SMBC Aviation Capital — 91 — — — 91 1
December 13, 2011 Southwest Airlines[n 4] 30 250 — — — 280 23
October 23, 2013 SpiceJet — 154 — — — 154 1
February 12, 2014 SunExpress — 15 — — 17 32 —
July 16, 2018 TAROM — 5 — — — 5 —
January 15, 2014 Timaero Ireland — — — — 22 22 —
August 6, 2013 Travel Service — 8 — — — 8 1
July 9, 2013 TUI Group — 54 — 18 — 72 5
May 8, 2013 Turkish Airlines — 65 10 — — 75 3
October 1, 2012 Unidentified Customer(s) — — — — 879 879 —
July 12, 2012 United Airlines — — 35 100 — 135 7
April 6 2018 UTair Aviation — — — — 30 30 —
May 22, 2016 VietJet Air — 100 — — — 100 —
July 6, 2012 Virgin Australia — 30 — 10 — 40 —
September 26, 2013 WestJet 23 20 — 12 — 55 8
December 21, 2013 XiamenAir — 8 — — — 8 8
Total 53 2556 136 407 1631 4783 219

As of September 30, 2018

Boeing 737 Max – malfunction issues post Lion Air Crash

Lion Air crash fallout: DGCA alerts Boeing 737 Max pilots on malfunction issues

Lion Air crash fallout: DGCA alerts Boeing 737 Max pilots on malfunction issues

 

NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)+ has asked Indian carriers using the Boeing 737 Max — Jet Airways and SpiceJet — to take corrective action on these planes facing a malfunction that could lead to a “possible impact with terrain”. The US aviation regulator, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Boeing had issued a bulletin over last two days after analysing the crash of Lion Air’s brand new B737 Max on October 29 soon after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all the 189 people on board.

DGCA chief B S Bhullar said: “Based on initial investigation of Lion Air aircraft accident, FAA has issued Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) (on Wednesday) and Boeing has issued bulletin (on Tuesday). Both the documents address erroneous high angle of attack (AOA) sensor input and corrective action for the same as it has a potential for repeated nose-down trim commands of horizontal stabilizer. This condition, if not addressed, could cause the flight crew to have difficulty controlling the airplane, and lead to excessive nose-down attitude, significant altitude loss, and possible impact with terrain.”

sensor

“Within 3 days after receipt of FAA AD changes to Airplane Flight Manual have to be done, for procedures which have to be followed by flight crew. DGCA has ensured that all Indian operators are aware of the FAA AD and have taken appropriate corrective action,” Bhullar added.

The DGCA had a day after the Lion Air crash reviewed theperformance of the six B737+ Max with Indian carriers, Jet Airways and SpiceJet. It had then said that these “six B737Max 8 aircraft in India have accumulated about 4,000 hours since their induction starting this June. There are no significant technical issues encountered on these aircraft.”

However with US being the original equipment manufacturer (Boeing) country, word on corrective action, if any, was awaited from Boeing and FAA by airlines and regulators. Jet and SpiceJet have ordered 225 and up to 205 B737 Max, respectively. At the moment, Jet is flying five B737 Max and SpiceJet has one.

The last flight before the crash of Lion Air’s Max 8 (registration PK-LQP) was from Bali to Jakarta on Sunday. The aircraft flight maintenance log for this flight JT 43 reported some malfunctions like its indicated airspeed (IAS) and altitude (ALT) indicators had “disagree shown after take off”. This ill-fated Max had been inducted in Lion Air fleet on August 15, 2018, and had done less than 800 hours.

The flight operation manual bulletin issued by Boeing says an erroneous AOA can cause some or all of effects like “continous or intermittent stick shaker on the affected side only; increasing nose down control forces; inability to engage auto pilot; automatic disengagement of auto pilot; IAS disagree alert; ALT disagree alert.” The Bali-Jakarta flight of the ill-fated Lion Air B737 Max had reported at least two of these factors — IAS and ALT disagree.

Reported by The Times of India on 8 November 2018.

Travel Risk: Inflight Depressurisation causes Ryanair flight to plummet 28,000 feet

Ryanair flight FR7312 from Dublin to Dublin to Zadar, Croatia was forced to make an emergency landing at Germany’s Frankfurt-Hahn airport after the plane’s cabin lost pressure.

33 passengers hospitalized after Ryanair flight plummets almost 30,000 feet

Over 30 passengers were hospitalized, with some complaining about bleeding from their ears, after a Ryanair flight plummeted 28,000 feet in less than 10 minutes on Friday, according to authorities and flight tracking software.

“I can safely say it was the most terrifying thing I ever experienced,” passenger Roxanne Brownlee told ABC News.

A spokesperson from Ryanair said an “inflight depressurization” on the plane, which was carrying 189 people, from Dublin, Ireland, to Zadar, Croatia, caused oxygen masks to deploy. The plane made an emergency landing at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport in Germany.

“The oxygen masks just fell down in front of us — we were given no context, there was no announcement,” said Brownlee. “We were all kind of scrambling trying to put the oxygen masks on and people were screaming, crying and shouting.”

When the plane began to plummet, Brownlee and another passenger, Sara Sihelnik, said they had no updates from the hostesses or captain.

“It was that moment we were plummeting that we were thinking, ‘This is it, we’re going to die,’” said Brownlee.

Once the plane arrived at the airport, 33 people were taken to the hospital “to be treated for headaches and earaches and nausea,” according to authorities. Sky News reported that some people complained they were bleeding from their ears.

Brownlee and Sihelnik described the treatment they received after landing as “disgraceful.”

“They brought in about 100 burgers, for 189 of us there. They said elderly and families with small children can sleep on cots in the basement, the rest of us was just sort of left floating around,” said Brownlee. “So we were all awake upwards of 36 hours of the entire ordeal — just completely exhausted, shattered and I would just say shocked with the treatment that we received from Ryanair.”

The flight path shows the plane falling thousands of feet in altitude.Courtesy of FlightRadar24.com

According to a Ryanair spokesperson, “Customers were provided with refreshment vouchers and hotel accommodation was authorised, however there was a shortage of available accommodation.”

On Saturday, another Ryanair flight took a majority of the passengers to their destination in Croatia. Out of the 33 people admitted to the hospital, 22 were released and bused to Croatia because they were told not to fly.

Reported by ABC News on 15 July 2018.

Ryanair is Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, according to the International Air Transport Association. It flies in 37 countries and carried 130 million passengers last year.

Travel Risk – aircraft cockpit window blows out during flight

Pilot lands passenger jet safely after windshield shatters
By Luo Wangshu

Sichuan Airlines Flight 3U8633 prepares to land in Chengdu with a damaged cockpit windshield (circle) on May 14, 2018. (WAN BI / XINHUA)

Captain Liu Chuanjian’s heroic actions moments after a cockpit windshield blew out on Monday, nearly pulling his co-pilot from the Airbus A319, has won him praise from flight professionals and internet readers for saving over 100 people onboard.

Liu had just leveled his aircraft at a cruising altitude of 32,000 feet when a deafening sound tore through the cockpit. He looked over and saw the right side of the windshield gone.

There was no warning sign. Suddenly, the windshield just cracked and made a loud bang. The next thing I know, my co-pilot had been sucked halfway out of the window

Liu Chuanjian,caption

“There was no warning sign. Suddenly, the windshield just cracked and made a loud bang. The next thing I know, my co-pilot had been sucked halfway out of the window,” Liu told Chengdu Economic Daily after making an emergency landing, saving the lives of all 119 passengers.

“Everything in the cockpit was floating in the air. Most of the equipment malfunctioned … and I couldn’t hear the radio. The flight was shaking so hard I could not read the gauges,” he said.

Calls to Liu’s cellphone by China Daily went unanswered on Monday evening.

Sichuan Airlines Flight 3U8633 had taken off as scheduled from southern China’s Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport at 6:26 am and was due in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region, at 9:05 am.

The windshield shattered about 7 am at least 100 kilometers into the journey. The aircraft, which had been traveling at 800 to 900 k/hr, went into a nosedive that lasted five to six seconds, according to the newspaper.

The cabin crew had been handing out breakfast to passengers when the plane pitched forward.

Passenger Zeng Jun described the scene in an interview with Chengdu Economic Daily as “too scary and too dangerous”. People were screaming, while bags and trays were flying everywhere, he said.

He recalled grabbing one of the oxygen masks that fell from overhead as a flight attendant began telling passengers to trust in the flight team. “When we finally landed, some of the women were in tears,” he said.

The co-pilot, who was pulled back into the cockpit and buckled into his chair, suffered a cut to his face and a sprained wrist, and a flight attendant received minor injures, the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s Southwest Regional Administration said.

Liu, who joined Sichuan Airlines after leaving the military in 2006, was able to right the plane quickly and made an emergency landing at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport at 7:46, about 45 minutes after the windshield blew out.

After landing, most passengers were transferred to another flight to Lhasa, but 29 passengers were sent to the hospital, one with a sprain and another with bruising, China Central TV reported.

The Airbus A319 aircraft’s flight controls were damaged in the incident happened on May 14, 2018. (SCREENSHOT OF CCTV VIDEO)

The aviation administration’s Southwest Regional Administration said the crew handled the emergency correctly.

Liu later said the accident reminded him of a similar incident with British Airways in 1990, when a windshield separated from its frame, and the captain was sucked out of the plane. With the captain pressed against the window frame for 20 minutes, the co-pilot made a safe landing.

Li Xiaohu, head of safety for the aviation administration’s Southwest Regional Administration, said an investigation has begun and the reason the windshield shattered will be looked into.

Zhang Wei, a council member of the Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said the broken windshield could have damaged the aircraft’s structure, causing it to be unable to fly or causing more serious problems if it does.

“The broken window in the cabin causes a loss of pressure. It leads to a loss of air in the cabin and the oxygen masks will fall,” he said.

The cockpit windshield is a very important part of an aircraft and may be the strongest glass on the craft. It consists of multiple layers and is very hard to break. This incident is very strange and only further investigation will lead to a resolution, Zhang added.

Reported by China Daily on 16 May 2018.

BACKGROUND DATA

The A319 was purchased by Sichuan Airlines in 2011 and had flown 19,912 hours.

On 10 June 1990, shortly after British Airways Flight 5390 left Birmingham Airport in England for Málaga Airport in Spain, an improperly installed windscreen panel separated from its frame, causing the plane’s captain to be blown partially out of the aircraft. With the captain pressed against the window frame for twenty minutes, the first officer managed to land at Southampton Airport with no loss of life.

Travel Risk: Engine Metal Fatigue

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) that requires operators to inspect fan blades on certain CFM56-7B engines within 20 days.

The directive is based on a CFM International Service Bulletin issued today and on information gathered from the investigation of Tuesday’s Southwest Airlines engine failure. The inspection requirement applies to CFM56-7B engines.

Specifically, engines with more than 30,000 total cycles from new must complete inspections within 20 days.  The EAD becomes effective upon publication. The engine manufacturer estimates today’s corrective action affects 352 engines in the U.S. and 681 engines worldwide.

The engine fan blades are used on Boeing 737-600, 700, 800 and 900 jets.

The USA National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) believes one of the blades snapped on the Southwest flight 1380 on Tuesday 17 April 2018, flying at about 30,000 feet, hurling debris that broke a window.  The incident killed one passenger who was sucked part way out of the plane and injured seven others. The plane, a Boeing 737 bound from New York to Dallas with 149 people aboard, made an emergency landing in Philadelphia.

NTSB investigators said one of the engine’s fan blades broke off from the hub during the flight. The broken edge of the blade showed crack lines consistent with metal fatigue.

NTSB QUESTION: Why didn’t the ring do its job?

NTSB investigators are taking the Southwest engine apart to understand what happened and will look at maintenance records for the engine. There’s a ring around the engine that’s meant to contain the engine pieces when this happens, and in this case it didn’t, which is the big focal point for the NTSB.

Engine failures occur from time to time as engines are being pushed to produce as much power as possible, many expert believe engines are right on the edge, and consequently sometimes engines fail, and that’s why the containment ring is there.

The engine failure was reminiscent of a similar event on a Southwest Boeing 737-700 jet in August 2016 as it flew from New Orleans to Orlando, Florida. Shrapnel from the engine left a 5-by-16-inch hole just above the wing. Passenger oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling. Pilots landed the plane safely in Pensacola, Florida.

Reported by the USA Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

 

Inflight entertainment satellite antenna catches fire on Qatar Airways A321 Aircraft

  • Qatar Airways A321 Badly Damaged in fire at Doha Airport
  • Inflight entertainment satellite antenna caught fire

On 8 December 2017 a Qatar Airways A321 was undergoing maintenance at a remote stand at Doha’s Hamad International Airport, and apparently the inflight entertainment satellite antenna caught fire.

The A321 with the tail number A7-AIB, which took its first flight in July 2010, so it’s still a fairly new plane.

Here’s the statement from the airline regarding this: “At 06:50am today a Qatar Airways Airbus A321 aircraft positioned at a remote stand experienced a fire whilst under maintenance at Hamad International Airport (HIA). The fire inside the cabin was promptly contained and extinguished. Whilst there was some damage to the aircraft there were no injuries. A full investigation is being conducted by the local authorities to establish the cause. Traffic at HIA was not affected and is running as normal.”

Pictures of the burnt plane have been circulating on Facebook, and it’s not pretty (and certainly looks worse than “some damage”):

I’m curious whether Qatar Airways plans to write off the plane, or if there’s anyway a plane with this much damage can still be fixed.

At least this happened while the plane was undergoing maintenance, rather than while the plane was in service…

(Featured Image: Konstantin von Wedelstaedt)

Reported by OneMileataTime.com on 9 December 2017.

Risk of Turbulence during flight – 7 persons injured on Cathay Pacific flight CX157

One passenger and six crew injured after turbulence hits Brisbane-bound Cathay Pacific flight

Cathay Pacific CX157 diverted to Manila so victims could get medical attention

A passenger and six cabin crew members on a Brisbane-bound Cathay Pacific Airways flight were injured when the aircraft hit severe turbulence on Monday ( October 2017.

Flight CX157 left Hong Kong International Airport at 12.49pm for the eastern Australian city and reportedly encountered the bumpy conditions about an hour into the journey, as staff were serving meals.

The cabin reportedly shook for 10 minutes, during which crew members were thrown up and hit the ceiling.

The Airbus A350, carrying 264 passengers, 11 crew and three pilots, diverted to Manila, in the Philippines, so the injured could get medical attention, an airline spokeswoman said.

The plane landed in Manila at 3.48pm local time. The injured have since been discharged.

All non-injured passengers departed on the plane for Brisbane at 6.29pm

Reported by South China Morning Post on 10 October 2017.

Air France A380 Makes Emergency Landing After Engine Blows Apart

  • French aviation agency, Airbus investigate ‘serious incident’
  • Arrangements made to get 497 passengers to Los Angeles
An Air France A380Photographer: Manuel Velasquez/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

An Airbus SE A380 superjumbo operated by Air France was forced to make an emergency landing in eastern Canada after one of its four engine broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean.

The aircraft was flying from Paris to Los Angeles when the “serious incident” occurred, prompting the pilots to land in Goose Bay, Labrador, the airline said Sunday in a statement. No one on Air France Flight 66 was hurt and arrangements have been made to get the 497 passengers to California, the airline said. Airbus and France’s BEA air-accident investigation bureau dispatched a team of experts to Canada to investigate the aircraft, they said.

While engine malfunctions aren’t uncommon, so-called uncontained failures, when the protective outer part of the power plant known as the cowling rips apart, are. Such explosions are more serious because it can cause catastrophic damage to the wing holding fuel or the hydrolics that control the flaps. The Air France plane’s jet turbines are made by Engine Alliance, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Pratt & Whitney Corp. The Alliance said on Twitter that it is aware of the Saturday incident and looking into it.

 

Photos posted by passengers online showed the outer of the two engines under the right wing with extensive damage, and the entire frontal ring of the cowling missing. Pratt & Whitney is owned by United Technologies Corp. and the manufacturer also equips the Airbus A320neo with upgraded engines, while GE and partner Safran SA offer a rival product.

The incident is the most severe since Qantas Airways Ltd. in 2010 grounded all six of its A380 aircraft after an inflight explosion on one of the plane’s engines. Those power plants were made by Rolls-Royce Group Plc, whose Trent 900 model is the other engine of choice on the A380. The Qantas jet was out of service for 18 months for repairs and retestesting.

The A380 is among the increasingly rare breed of airliners powered by four engines. The other two aircraft still in use are the Boeing 747, as well as the A340, which is no longer produced. Airlines now favor two-engine models because they are more fuel efficient, and twin-turbine aircraft have become more reliable even after a malfunction of one engine. Aircraft like the Airbus A350 are certified to fly for several hours on just one engine to reach the next airport for emergency landings.

After a decade in service Airbus has slowed output of the A380, the world’s biggest passenger aircraft, to just one plane a month. Air France operates 10 of the aircraft. The biggest user of the double decker is Emirates, which uses mainly Engine Alliance turbines for the plane, but has switched lately to the Rolls-Royce model.

Reported on 1 October 2017 by Bloomberg.

Air Passengers in Australia are never matched with ticket and baggage

"In Australia you need a photo ID to enter a licensed venue, but not to board a flight!" Roger Henning, Founder, Homeland Security Asia Pacific

Letters: Airport security, the constitution and the NBN

A visible presence, but the holes in security are obvious.
A visible presence, but the holes in security are obvious. Justin McManus
by Letters

Basic steps to tighten airport security

When will the government implement the necessary protective security measures to minimise the risk of a terrorist attack on civil aviation, and require airlines to assure the travelling public as to who and what is flying on their aircraft.

Anyone at our city and regional airports can board a domestic aircraft without ever producing identification. Simply check in online or at an electronic kiosk (including checked baggage), obtain your boarding pass, pass through security screening, and proceed to the boarding gate then onto the aircraft!  Or, simply hand your boarding pass to one of the thousands of people in the sterile area, many of whom are not flying.

You, and your ticket and baggage, are never matched.

The bottom line is that our domestic carriers cannot guarantee who or what is travelling in their aircraft.

There are six basis steps to improving aviation security that should be implemented at all domestic airports immediately:

•Automated passenger profiling from the point of ticket purchase (national database interfaced with select government agencies and all airlines).

•Ticket-passenger verification (photo ID) prior to screening – only flying passengers permitted to proceed to the sterile concourse area.

• Scalable risk-based security screening (not everyone presents the same risk) incorporating automated full body scanning.

 • Secondary ticket/passenger verification (photo ID) at the boarding gate.

• Replace the low-paid private security personnel working at our airports with a competent and highly motivated government aviation security force forming part of our border protection force. We do this for customs and quarantine inspection, why not security?

• Replace the Aviation Security Identification Card issued to employees, concessionaires and contractors working at our airports with biometric access control and ID –start tracking the person, not the card.

Anything less is simply a cost-driven politically expedient approach to our safety.

Mike Carmody, Former chief of security, Sydney Airport, Forde, ACT

Reported by the Australian Financial Review on 1 August 2017.

Jet blast from a plane kills a tourist at St. Maarten airport

Jet blast from a plane kills a tourist at a Caribbean airport

A sign near St. Maarten's Princess Juliana International Airport warns people about the danger from airplane jet engines.

A sign near St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport warns people about the danger from airplane jet engines.

A tourist from New Zealand was killed by the blast of a plane at an airport in the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Maarten.

The 57-year-old woman, who was not identified, was hanging onto a fence to watch the plane leave Wednesday, the island’s police said on Facebook.
The jet’s blast was so powerful, it knocked her down, police said. She later died.
Watching planes land and take off at Princess Juliana International Airport is a well-known tourist attraction, as approaching aircraft tend to fly very low above their heads.
But both airport and local authorities warn against getting too close to the planes, calling the practice “extremely dangerous.”
Police didn’t say what kind of plane was involved in Wednesday’s incident.
Island authorities say they have taken necessary precautions to warn tourists not to get too close to planes. They’ve placed signs and they patrol the area to warn people, the police department said.
Thrill-seekers and tourists have been watching planes take off and land at the airport since it opened in 1943.
In 2012, a woman was injured after she was flung into a nearby concrete barrier by a jet blast.
Reported by CNN on 14 July 2017.
It is worth highlighting a suggestion posted on Facebook by Paul Trueschler In know it’s a tourist attraction, but please install a small deflector to at least reduce the blast effects. It can still be exciting while becoming safer.
Hope the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Maarten Airport Authorities instal a small deflector, to reduce the risk of injury and death of future visitors.