海角大神

鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.

听Hundreds of thrill-seeking tourists 铿俹ck to Maho Beach on this Caribbean island every day 鈥� not to sunbathe or swim but to put themselves deliberately (and insanely, some say) in the path of low-铿倅ing jumbo jets. For them, spending the day reaching for the underbelly of a Boeing 757 or other such aircraft as it streaks overhead to land at the island鈥檚 international airport is their idea of fun in the sun.

Veteran plane-spotters, in fact, say there is no place quite like it: a beautiful, white sandy beach at the end of a runway where the local hangout 鈥� the Sunset Beach Bar and Grill 鈥� posts the arrival and departure times of aircraft on a surfboard and broadcasts radio transmissions between pilots and the control tower.

For the pilots of these monster jets, 铿倅ing low into the airport is necessary to ensure听 touching down as close to the end of a short runway (7,546 feet) as possible. That may seem dangerous. But no major incident has been reported in the long history of what has been called the world鈥檚 scariest airport.

Planes that land, however, must also take off. And that鈥檚 where the danger comes in.

Holding on to the fence for dear life as the powerful jet engines rev up for takeoff, tourists routinely ignore a nearby sign warning that 鈥渏et blast鈥� from departing aircraft 鈥渃an cause severe physical harm resulting in extreme bodily harm and/or death.鈥�

But for these thrill-seekers, it鈥檚 just another day at the beach.