The "It's The Wildest" Story

It was an ordinary day. Checking out my airline reservation for my upcoming trip to Barbados. Trying to remember what the airport looks like in Barbados. How dangerous is landing in Barbados. Pulled up a photo of the airport and remembered that it was quite large and had no problems with landing or taking off. Not one of the truly wild airports that you find in the Caribbean. Was reading an article in "Islands" magazine about the wildest flights in the Caribbean. I think I probably mentioned about the landing in St. Martin. The runway starts about 15 feet beyond Maho Beach. People sitting on the beach watch the plane as it passes maybe 30 feet over their heads. Pretty scary. When we visit the island, we always take a day and visit Sunset Bar and Grill which is situated right next to the beach. Fantastic shots of the planes landing from this spot. A few years ago we visited St. Barts for a day trip from St. Martin and took a taxi ride around the island. Taxi driver took us to the top of the hill above the airport. He pulled over to the side of the road when we reached the top and waited for a plane to arrive. OMG! Right over the top of the taxi! Thought it was going to hit us! Plane must drop down towards the airport as soon as it comes over a mountain and the road is right below the top of the mountain. Scary sitting in the taxi, but I'm sure it is much more scary sitting in the plane as it drops to the end of the runway. Have never traveled to Saba, but after seeing a photo of the airport and reading about it, I'm not sure I would want to go there by plane. When you approach the runway you must be sure that you are high enough so you don't hit the rocks on either end, but not too high or you won't have enough runway to stop. As for taking off, you reach the end of the runway and then it drops off into the ocean. Not my idea of a fun takeoff. Now I know that there are more dangerous landings and takeoffs throughout the world, but in the Caribbean, these three airports are the most challenging. But, you just got to try it one time! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - pixs from top are: St. Martin, St. Bart, Saba