The "Too Big For Sint Maarten" Story

Photo taken years ago at Princess Juliana Airport.

It was an ordinary day.  Standing at the head of the runway in Sint Maarten waiting for just one more plane to land.  Every year when we travel to St. Martin for vacation, we make sure to visit the Sunset Bar & Grill which sits directly next to the runway of the Princess Juliana International Airport.  Planes that land at the airport must travel over Maho Beach where some days hundreds of beach goers as well and photographers gather to document the landing of the large planes that just clear the beach and the chain link fence to the rear of it.  I have posted quite a few photos as well as written a few stories telling how exciting it is to watch and photograph the planes.  Well, the other day I saw a link on YouTube which shows the arrival of a few planes as they land over Maho Beach.  

  
Click on arrow to see the planes landing at Princess Juliana Airport in Sint Maarten.

But then I was another video titled "Too Big For St. Maarten?" and just had to click on the link to see what that one offered.  I couldn't believe what I was looking at as this gigantic plane with six engines and 30 wheels landed over Maho Beach.  It looked as if it should have taken down the fence, but luckily didn't touch it.  I was amazed and watched the video over and over again.  And then I realized it wasn't a plane landing at the airport, but a video from a computer game I was looking at.  I should have known that the plane could never have landed there, but you never know!  The video is still exciting and if you look close enough you will realize that it isn't a real plane.  Still gave me chills the first couple of times I watched it, fearing it was going to crash land in Sint Maarten.  Of course if it had crashed the first time, it wouldn't have kept it up over and over again.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.