Lowest ever: The Wizz air flight appeared to drop below the usual low approach threshold. Photo / The Great Flyer, Screenshot
Lowest ever: The Wizz air flight appeared to drop below the usual low approach threshold. Photo / The Great Flyer, Screenshot
Tourists on the Greek Island of Skiathos claim they were nearly decapitated by an "unusually low" approach to the infamous regional airport.
Skiathos airport is a favourite spot for thrillseekers and plane spotters looking to get uncomfortably close to large passenger planes. The shallow approach over a beach and access road have become a draw for tourists - despite the warnings for bystanders to keep out of the way.
This week visitors claim to have witnessed the "lowest ever landing" into the airport, as footage emerged of an extremely shallow landing from Wizz Air A321-neo.
It was "just a few feet over plane spotters' heads" according to aviation enthusiast Demetris Gregoriou, who captured the incident.
The Cypriot YouTuber, who has shared over 700 videos to his The Great Flyer channel, says that it was the closest he'd ever seen a plane overhead.
Lowest ever: Planespotters got more than they bargained for at Skiathos, witnessing and unusually low approach. Photo / The Great Flyer, Screenshot
However, suggestions that the pilot might have been playing up to the crowds were dismissed. Comments cast doubt on the idea that a commercial airline pilot in charge of 300+ passengers would do anything to risk those on board or on the ground.
"Before jumping to conclusion, let's just say we don't know why the plane ended up so scarily low on a fairly routine approach but I doubt it was 'intentional' 'showing off,'" they wrote.
"However, the people standing there were definitely standing there intentionally despite the warning signs and traffic lights."
What's it like landing at Skiathos? The other St Maarten
Skiathos Airport has been dubbed the "Saint Maarten of Europe" - in comparasson to the approach at SXM International Airport. The Caribbean runway crosses the sandy Maho Beach, which has also become a destination for watching low planes approach.
The thrilling approach has led to it being described as one of "the most dangerous approaches" in the world.
But one 737 pilot called this reputation "just baloney."
Although the sensation of a 150 tonne plane screaming overhead is intimidating, they rarely cross over Maho at below 30 metres.
In a letter to the Ask the Pilot blog, he said there was no more risk at SXM than at any other airport. At least if you are in the plane.
"The runway at SXM is short, but there's nothing different or unusual about the approach to it. The altitudes, speeds and angles that we fly all are normal. There happens to be a beach at the foot of the runway, but that's the beachgoer's concern, not ours."
