A Caribbean Tragedy.

St. Martin is a very small and beautiful island nation - just a tiny speck in the Atlantic. Tourism is the main industry. The island is split between France and Holland. A couple of days ago hurricane Irma had been very cruel to the tiny Caribbean Island.

 Tourist friendly paradise.with tropical monsoon climate like in Kerala. Keralam with its much higher resources and population could have been a better place if we had the will and commonsense.

Almost invisible - tiny St Martin. Its Dutch name is Sint Maartn.  

The arrow  head points to its location.

October 2016 we were in St Martin for vacation. One can arrive from New York in less than 5 hours. The island is also a mecca for people who love airplanes. Princess Juliana international Airport’s runway-end is at handshake distance from the beach. Large crowd gather here to see planes land and take off, so close that jet blast from large jets could sweep one into the sea. That is the fun, though it can be dangerous at times.

We spent 3 days here. Happily, Juliana is a busy airport. Although we went sightseeing the main activity was the waiting for the arrivals and departures and enjoyed every bit of it.

                                           To get around, on arrival, we hired a Hyundai I10 car 

              mainly because it was made in India; 

Jessy has an i10 and small  cars are suited for St Martin .

We selected the hotel that was right close to the beach and landing strip. It had a canopy bar were one could buy excellent food and beverages, and wait for the planes. Young smart boys and girls are the waiters and they please you with their service. By second day they knew what brand of beer my son and I preferred and that Jessy didn’t take alcohol and so pleased her with delicious fruit juices. Excellent tourist friendly ambience.

 The Sun Set Grill & Bar is placed right on the beach close to the runway end . Sitting here one can see approaching air crafts far out from the horizon flying in low . As it comes in for the touch down tourists leave the tables to stand in the sand right beneath the aircraft.

 The grill had a board to inform the patrons of the coming arrivals. The staff update the chart frequently. We were waiting from 9 AM for the highlight of all landings- KLM Jumbo from Amsterdam - the first entry in this list.

 Sea breeze and good food make the plane spotting a delightful experience. Food in this grill is not cheap though. They charge at nearly US rates.

 Checking ' Flightstats" for the next arrival.

The bar displays an arrival departure time board for its patrons.
The most glamorous and waited for arrival/departure is that of KLM 747 Jumbo jet from Amsterdam. It operates thrice a week and as the huge bird appear as a speck far out in the sea, a huge cry of approval emanates from the multitudes that throng the beach. When the blue bird finally fly over the beach it is hardly 30 meters above you. Imagine noise and turbulence such a landing evokes. That is Maho beach of St. Martin.

 InselAir comes in, rather at a higher altitude - to the disapproval of the crowd. We like every one else inadvertently wave to all arriving air crafts. After the touch down of each plane, a big round of applause goes around. Then most go back to the bar till the next one comes in.

 Here is the queen of all arrivals. The majestic KLM 747. The sound the 4 jet engines, the the flying sands and the jet blast that throw the people into the sea is incredible experience. Sadly KLM no longer flies a 747 to St Martin now. It is replaced with a more profitable 777.

 KLM is flying back. Entering the run way for take off. These dare devils holding on the fence is doing themselves no service. We moved out of the path of the blast, yet were trembled by fury of hot jet engine. Those in line on the beach were thrown into the sea. At the end of the run way is a mountain - part of which you can see.. So the huge bird takes an unusual immediate left, seconds after lift off. In order to limit the photos I am forced to discard it.

A week later, KLM replaced their Jumbo Jet with a smaller and more economic aircraft. It was international news. We were lucky to see one of the final 747 landings in ‘Sint Maarten’ - the Duch name of the island
This week that beach was taken by the sea when hurricane blew. Irma has caused wide spread damage in the Caribbean islands and Cuba.
When it reached USA, CNN, BBC & MSNBC and all major networks gave 24 hour coverage. But the strong Category 4 storm had ravished several Caribbean nations and Cuba before it reached America. Not much was heard about it - at least on the Indian beam of these news channels. I wonder what has happened to the people and their property.

We should stand with the friendly poor people of the archipelago. They are hardy lot and has rebuilt and sprang back after several previous hurricanes. So will they this time too.