Plane grazes tourist's hand - St. Barts

[aonyn]

Wow, this is one way to remove oneself from the gene pool.

https://youtu.be/YW64_KyfSj4

[Aymi]

Wow, this is one way to remove oneself from the gene pool.

https://youtu.be/YW64_KyfSj4

The pilot is pretty damn low He could've killed the photographer ! It's not like he was sitting on the runway, he was standing by the public road !

[Ian Warren]

Wow, this is one way to remove oneself from the gene pool.

You get the bright ones .... then you don't get the not so bright

[aonyn]

Wow, this is one way to remove oneself from the gene pool.

https://youtu.be/YW64_KyfSj4

The pilot is pretty damn low He could've killed the photographer ! It's not like he was sitting on the runway, he was standing by the public road !

I think that approach was not really abnormal for this particular airport. Just go watch videos of aircraft approaching St. Barts on youtube...
Normally though in these videos, the shot is taken from off to the side, not in the flight path.

Anyway, yes, they have to skim the road, which is at the top of a hill which obstructs the approach, I assume at the very bottom end of the power curve, then dive down the hill to get to the threshold. Add to that, it is a fairly short runway ending at a beach, so not much time to stop before running off the end. This airport is notorious as one of the most difficult approaches in the world.

I am not sure, but I think that sign right next to him is a warning sign to NOT be there when planes are approaching.

My thought honestly is, the photographer could have killed the pilot.

Regards,
Dave

[Piper_EEWL]

that was close.

I think the pilot could have approached a bit higher. If a car come any he would have hit it. I'm glad everyone escaped ok!

[DHenriques_]

Wow, this is one way to remove oneself from the gene pool.

https://youtu.be/YW64_KyfSj4

The pilot is pretty damn low He could've killed the photographer ! It's not like he was sitting on the runway, he was standing by the public road !

Knowing that approach there is a fair chance the pilot never even saw this person. Final at Bart's is an all consuming concentration on the approach itself. Chances are the pilot just scanned the ridge for general clearance and the man standing in front of the ridge line vs the approach angle might have blended him right into the landscape in front of the ridge.
Very stupid move by the man taking the pictures if the scenario is indeed real.
Dudley Henriques

[Tutmeister]

Having seen other angles and looking at the location the pilot is completely at fault. He barely clears the vehicles on the road, imagine if a van was approaching the roundabout instead of just a moped. The guy taking pictures wasn't stood somewhere he shouldn't have been, he was actually stood on a road junction that leads down to the cargo/service area of the airport. That sign just says restricted area no entry. Again, imagine if a van was climbing that hill....
Have a look at other pictures and see how much more clearance is given by larger aircraft. If heavier aircraft can get down with more margin then that cessna pilot is doing something wrong!









Chris

[pjc747]

Wow, this is one way to remove oneself from the gene pool.

https://youtu.be/YW64_KyfSj4

The pilot is pretty damn low He could've killed the photographer ! It's not like he was sitting on the runway, he was standing by the public road !

Knowing that approach there is a fair chance the pilot never even saw this person. Final at Bart's is an all consuming concentration on the approach itself. Chances are the pilot just scanned the ridge for general clearance and the man standing in front of the ridge line vs the approach angle might have blended him right into the landscape in front of the ridge.
Very stupid move by the man taking the pictures if the scenario is indeed real.
Dudley Henriques

Depends if he knew. If he's a local planespotter for instance, then yes. But if he's some tourist angling for an excellent shot, the average civilian would never expect a plane to be that close.

[Piper_EEWL]

I would not go as far as pointing fingers at the pilot. I agree with Dudley that this must be one of the most challenging approaches to fly. I've never been there in real life but from what you can see online (and that's a lot) it must be extremely difficult. And yes other bigger planes clear the intersection with more altitude but I'm sure he wasn't going that low on purpose.

Anyways as I said above I'm glad everyone got away with just a scare!

[Tutmeister]

I agree with dudley in that it is a very difficult approach but it doesn't matter if he could see the guy or not he should have had more margin and he definately made a mistake there. It was more to point out that the photographer wasn't being stupid standing there.
I'm not judging the pilot or questioning his skill or methods, I doubt anyone would have made a judgement call and decided that was a good course of action. For all we know he might even have had a mechanical of some sort. Or he just got it wrong that day. Everybody makes mistakes after all.
It is a very challenging approach in the sim and good fun to fly, more so with the correct scenery add on but it must be quite scary and very stressfull to do it in real life with a high cost if you get it wrong. I'm certainly not capable or brave enough to try doing it in real life.

Glad everyone is ok as it could gave been so much worse.

Chris

[Piper_EEWL]

I agree with dudley in that it is a very difficult approach but it doesn't matter if he could see the guy or not he should have had more margin and he definately made a mistake there. It was more to point out that the photographer wasn't being stupid standing there.
I'm not judging the pilot or questioning his skill or methods, I doubt anyone would have made a judgement call and decided that was a good course of action. For all we know he might even have had a mechanical of some sort. Or he just got it wrong that day. Everybody makes mistakes after all.
It is a very challenging approach in the sim and good fun to fly, more so with the correct scenery add on but it must be quite scary and very stressfull to do it in real life with a high cost if you get it wrong.

Very well said! I agree 100%!

[Levkovvvv]

I think the correct word for behavior of both pilot and photographer is stupid. It is always stupid to stand in the potential path of an object weighing a ton and moving 200 kph, regardless of the quality of photograph you can potentially get. Photographer had more than enough time to move when he saw how low the approach path of the oncoming plane was, and he failed to do so because he valued the photo more than his life.
On the other hand, the behavior of the pilot was stupid, I dare say reckless, and potentially illegal (I don't know if that part of the approach has an altitude constraint). If there have been a bus or a tractor-trailer on that road, that video would have had a different title and would be marked 18+ for graphic content. I agree with the people who said that it is a difficult approach, but the pilot should be aware of his capabilities and should not attempt that approach if he can't safely make it.

[aonyn]

I agree those photos show picture perfect approaches, and they do have a better margin indeed. However, if you watch the multitude of footage available of planes making that approach, you will see very many skim the top of the hill as this Cessna pilot did. It seems to be not unusual, even if not ideal.

I also notice, those planes shown above appear to be the commercial flights that frequent, perhaps even are based at St. Bart's, so these I presume to be professionals who know this approach so well they could fly it in their sleep.

The Cessna pilot on the other hand likely was not so well practiced for this approach. I doubt the average visiting pilot is going to achieve the beautiful approach of the pilots in those photos.

Finally, all the plane spotter video footage I have watched has been off to the side, not in the flight path. I still think this photographer had a bit of thrillseeker in him, and put himself and the pilot in harm's way so he could get that bragging shot.

Heck, I would not want to stand directly under the flight path of even those professionals in the photos, 10 or 20 feet is a bit close for comfort to an aircraft flying 60 - 90 knots past me.

Regards,
Dave

[Bruce Hamilton]

Has anyone thought that this might've been a publicity stunt? The photographer is shooting, ducks to avoid the plane, then turns around for another shot. Most people would have to change their shorts, this guy turns around and shoots more pictures like it's no big deal. And what are the odds of another person just happening to be there, video camera running?

[aonyn]

As far as vehicles and aircraft collisions, I do have to wonder about the statistics here. I have seen a picture of a plane a few mere feet above the head of a motor cyclist, and the cyclist ducking his head as they pass. It would seem this location should at least have some kind of system such as a traffic light controllable by the atc, which they could pause the traffic when an aircraft is approaching.

The thought of a bus full of tourists and a low flying aircraft colliding here is scary indeed, and I think not out of the realm of possibility, perhaps even just a matter of time. Yikes!

Regards,
Dave