Had to happen..

[jdwgraf 52]

It makes me wonder how as a kid I managed to survive the 60's and 70's . There was no " nanny state " then that's for certain . When outside playing , falling out of a tree or falling into a hole were things that happened , you just got up , brushed off most of the dirt and carried on ignoring any bruises or scratches ( until your mother saw you ) .

Nowadays with " Health & Safety " nearly everything is regulated ( mostly meaning banned ) and when something ( eventually ) does happen , then there are calls for that to be banned as well . As someone posted earlier maybe we should just stay in bed all day just in case something does happen . Rules and regulations are one thing but if large signs pointing out the dangers are not enough then nothing is . It's not as though the island is large enough to make any real changes to the airport itself anyway ( and there is no reason for it either ) .

I recall in my RAF days that ground equpment was painted yellow so that it would be noticed until someone decided that it should be camouflaged so it was all painted  matt green . Later it was found that the same equipment was now no longer highly visible resulting in " accidents " and a yellow stripe had to be painted on .

Another case was when I was working offshore , the rule was that you had to have one hand free when using stairs ( on a platform that's something they have a lot of ) , then it was decided you actually had to have your hand on the railing as though you were a 5 year-old . It even got to the stage where people were watching others going up and down stairs and reporting them for not holding the railing ( and getting a reprimand for not doing so ) . This all went well until someone cut his hand on some paint chips resulting in yet another rule change when everyone had to wear gloves when using the stairs ( and still being spied on ) .

[Chock 17,769]

I remember years ago, not long after I got a pilot's licence, I went to an open evening at a flying club. There were about maybe 15 people there interested in getting into flying and it was a good presentation. After the presentation, there was a Q&A session, and I recall someone asking 'is it dangerous?', to which the honest reply from the guy presenting came: 'I'd be be lying if I said people don't get killed occasionally doing it, but you can get hit by a bus crossing the street too, so it's up to you to decide whether you want to accept the fact that there is some risk in doing things out of the ordinary and even in the ordinary things you do sometimes. You could choose to never cross the street, but you'll never go anywhere interesting and never do anything exciting'.

It was a fairly blunt answer of course, but an entirely honest one, and I recall that it didn't put anyone off, in fact, many people joined up that same evening, including me. As it turned out, it proved to be true; I have known three people who have been killed flying, including someone who was there that very night. It happens, but since we like aeroplanes, we make the decision, and choose to fly them as a hobby.

It's the same with motorcycles, we all know it's generally much safer in a car, but I ride them all the same, despite having had some bad accidents on them. That's my choice and I don't expect, need, nor want a nanny state to prevent me from doing what I like. I'm an adult and can decide for myself if a risk is acceptable to me.

The fact is, some things are dangerous. Much of the time, the danger is small, or calculated, but it's often there nonetheless. There was and is a very obvious danger in hanging about on the stretch of beach at St Maarten where those jets land and take off, and plenty of signs telling you so too. I presume the person who was killed saw the warning signs and had also seen people doing that kind of thing, either on video or whilst there, and accepted the risk. Granted, they may not have appreciated just how really stupid that decision was, but that's just tough luck, which came down hard on them, as it does on occasion when people choose to accept risks, and life is full of them. Everyone on that island took an (admittedly much smaller) risk to get there when they boarded an aeroplane. We all know aeroplanes can and do crash sometimes.

I certainly wouldn't choose to hang on to that fence at St Maarten when a jet was taking off, that's just too much of a risk for my tastes, but if people want to do it, I say let them do it. They're stupid, but it's their choice.

[Alan_A 1,650]

Hey, guys - it's easy in these discussions for all of us to wind up fighting our corners and turning our arguments into cartoons.  I'm as guilty of that as the next person.  So - apologies.  I ought to clarify that I think there's a lot of merit on the "she was warned" side - those signs are pretty big and pretty clear.  I also get fed up with nanny-statism - every time I go down my local subway, there's a recorded voice telling me I need to hold the handrail on the escalator - like I didn't know that.  And I'm by no means anti-business - having earned my living and my flightsim allowance as a business consultant for 30 of my last 40 professional years.

But... I don't fully buy the argument that she was striking a blow for individualism or that she died doing what she loved to do. To me it's a kind of stupid and useless death, and what brought it about was the need for businesses to keep money flowing in.  Risk plays out differently for different kinds of people.  Think about auto racing - drivers take a huge risk, but they do it knowing all about what they're getting into, and getting paid, sometimes a lot, for their trouble.  The same doesn't apply to the person sitting in the grandstand watching the race.  That person shouldn't be expected to take on the same risk of being killed by, say, a car flying into the stands, and if the track owners don't take reasonable precautions to keep cars from flying into stands, there's a problem.  You'd have to ask the track owners why they didn't put more effort and more money into safety.  So, in this case, good, meaningful risk for the drivers; bad, meaningless risk for the spectators.

I keep thinking of what Joseph Conrad wrote in reply to people who thought that the Titanic's passengers had died heroically:
 

Quote

There is nothing more heroic in being drowned very much against your will, off a holed, helpless, big tank in which you bought your passage than in quietly dying of colic caused by the imperfect salmon in the tin you bought from your grocer.

In that spirit - if people want to get killed getting their jollies from jet blast, fine - but let's not claim it's a blow for freedom, and let's admit that there are parties that could keep it from happening, not by over-regulating but by digging into their pockets a little.

 

 

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

If I ever went to that island I wouldn't be one of the ones standing behind that jet blast, only because I don't feel the need to breath kerosene exhaust at high velocity, but I certainly would stand off to the side and watch with a laugh, also that bar looks like a pretty awesome vantage point for plane watching. Too bad the 747 doesn't fly anymore

[W2DR 1,860]

1 minute ago, Matthew Kane said:

If I ever went to that island I wouldn't be one of the ones standing behind that jet blast, only because I don't feel the need to breath kerosene exhaust at high velocity, but I certainly would stand off to the side and watch with a laugh, also that bar looks like a pretty awesome vantage point for plane watching. Too bad the 747 doesn't fly anymore

One of the best bars in the world IMNSHO. An added plus is that they have a chalkboard showing arrival and departure times so you won't have to constantly leave your beer to go and check if you're missing anything..........Doug

[brucets 94]

I've been to the Sun Set Bar at Maho Beach about a half dozen times while on cruises. Always marveled at the stupid people hanging on the fence. Check out some of the pics and there are zillions of YouTube vids too.

Sunset Beach Bar

Bruce

[cowpatz 243]

The Rarotonga (NCRG) Runway 26 in the Cook Islands is another airport whereby both the tourists and locals hang off the fence for departures. In fact it is even semi promoted as a tourist attraction. Every time I turn around at the end, after backtracking down the runway, they can be seen seen gathering on the rickety perimeter fence, I have always thought it unwise as it is not uncommon for bits of the asphalt to break loose and I cant think of many things worse than wearing that in the face!