Something else is that the only flying plane sir Antilles has flies in Germany now :( all their twin otter F-OMYR/ F-OMYS (the one in the crash) have both stopped flying. Add well as the 1 ATR plane F-OMYN all have not flown since September 2023
About a month ago I flew my Cessna 172 from Montreal to Pointe-à-Pitre. The trip wouldn't have been complete without an approach into the notorious St.Barths. So I completed the rating required to land at St.Barths with a local instructor and thereafter flew my Cessna solo to St.Barths to spend the day there. St.Barths definitely is the most challenging approach I have ever flown in my entire life. I deeply respect all the pilots who fly that approach on a daily basis all year long with all kinds of weather. I can't imagine what it's like landing there during the cyclonic season.
You had way too much fun! 😍 Good call at 22:47 - getting long, incipient porpoise, go around and try again. Even the pros had their hands full in that wind. Except for that helicopter pilot. I've done some back-of-the-envelope flight planning via the Bahamas and Puerto Rico...
He Alex, this is from the 15min and change version of this with a travelog over written: Greetings from Colorado, Alex Praglowski! Very well done. Originally, I didn't see the subsequent and more edited compilation which is 26+mins. This was good enough for both versions... Regardless, on our 2nd honeymoon, we had planned to stay in St Maarten. This was early December and WAY before the infernal intranet thingy-ma-Bob. In fact living in NW Georgetown, DC, I was a very serious plane spotter at the north end of DCA/ Reagan on the GW Parkway bike trail where at any given time, anywhere from 5 to 25 cars were parked at Gravelly Park and Boat Ramp less than 150 yards from the north approach to the Primary runway 19. Since the morning of Jan 1982 when Air Florida planted Flt #90 onto the 14th Street Bridge in a horrific driving snow storm at high rush hour...I digress. Anyone over 14yo at that time will remember the gory graphics from all 3 Networks. So we decided to hop over to SBH St Bart's for tennis and lunch at Le Select-the original Cheeseburger In Paradise in Gustavia...As a certified DCA Plane Spotter (I'll spare the nuanced explanation), I had utterly NO idea about the crash, the internet, social media-nada. In this video by Alex must have been filmed in early Summer. When I finally found St Bart's airport, Bay St Jean, Gustavia with the out door bar at Le Select / Cheeseburger In Paradise when Jimmy Buffet actually DID hang out there on many occasions back in the late 70's and the 80's there was NO airport terminal-just a shack and General Aviation. Which is where Buffet kept this and that planes from his large collection like other crazy stupid wealthy with their Mokes, no socks, and more likely a sailboat than on of the coup;le of dozen 100meter and UP Super yachts and Mega yachts clearly visible in this video anchored off-shore of Bay St Jean and Gustavia) or 40ft to 150ft weekender power boats. This logistical frenzy of transporting the uber wealthy to and fro a tiny island with two nations owning the island and ONLY STOL aircraft like these Twin Otters and Pilatus turbo-singles, well, you can begin to understand why St Barts is a mish-mash of destination, super low volume, usually a long-term stay or outright ownership of villas rather than over-priced hotels... FOR FURTHER SBH spotting, videos and even a 24hour videoCam of the airport: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-15pVqwQb7A0.html THIS is the infamous CRASH just after the sand and swimming were stopped off the runway: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--z2o0acIlm4.html Which is AirBoyd's re-post of the original crash video which actually belongs to Mo Po on Vimeo at vimeo.com/4875559 On which at LEAST 15 years ago, the creator actually expresses GRATITUDE to have the original crash 'ON TAPE!'
One of the world's most hazardous airports. The hill's steepness makes landing feel a bit scary. 😮The airport was named after Swedish king Gustaf III. Due to it being Sweden's only slave colony, it is somewhat a dim story. Gustavia, the capital, bears the name of the same monarch.
Great fun - thanks for the upload. Not as challenging as St. Barts, but you might enjoy Culebra, Puerto Rico. It's requires flying with little clearance in between two small hills, then a hard left at under 100 ft AGL ...and like St. Barts, stopping prior to hitting the bay.
I Have so much enjoyed this trimendous video, l watched it right to the end then watched it again, then l put my mobile to the side & watched it again so to give me a better & bigger view of the planes coming in & going out, the video was that good that I was away miles high, if you know what that means, (it means that the video was so enjoyable) so a huge thank you to the person who made this trimendous video, l will be watching it again. - thanks a million.
Those Pilatus are such beautiful aircraft. Imagine just aiming between the windsocks and hoping the crosswinds aren't too bad. This is my favourite thing to do on St. Barts these pilots do their thing. You ought to go to the end on St Jean Beach for different view.
Incredible landings! Saw one that couldn't land and most that had to brake abruptly to take a sharp turn to the right without turning around! Amazing pilot skills! Great job Alex!
Hey Just to let you know WestJet Link operated by Pacific Coastal Airlines is shutting down come October, so if you want to fly the Saab 340 one more time best do it soon. Love the channel by the way
I was sorry to see that the Air Antilles had been in an Accident, that was one of the planes that I enjoyed watching, maybe you will be able to fix it again ( l hope so)
next time you visit saint martin i highly recommend you to be visit the shortest commercial runway in teh world in Saba island wich is 12 min from saint martin .
Landed there late '70s with a friend piloting a 207. That hill was a cliff, you had to drop the aircraft on the runway. Not good for the stomach. Only turboprops could land from the seaside. There was a small plane crashed at the base of that cliff. Hot place, not much to see.
If I ever get there, I’m putting a dime on the runway because the Twin Otters can stop on it. Great video! ❤ (Can someone loan me a dime? US or Canadian is fine.)
2:45 OK that pilot is just showing off. (Edit) OK, it's all the Twotter pilots, nevermind. "Hey, wanna see my hummingbird impression?" must drive the Caravan pilots nuts.
Nuts... Respect. I think it takes a good while for any pilot to get reasonably comfortable landing at this place, though I doubt that even the experienced once are ever fully relaxed. Some serious clenching of butt cheeks comes to mind. Thanks!
