Originally Posted by
John Pennekamp
Here's an interesting one for you.
I flew with a Dutch FO yesterday who knows many, many KLM pilots. He also used to live in St Maartin and flew freight there. He told me there's a "contest" between the KLM and Air France pilots who regularly fly to SXM to see who can come the lowest over the fence without actually hitting it. Apprarently the winner gets a case of Champaigne. So that's why they always land short.
I think we can all see the shaking of the heads over this deal.
I was able to witness a simular contest, actually the aftermath of a simular one once. Couple dudes in a corp. jet were betting on who could land closest to the edge of the runway. The result was the Cpt. hit the grass about 4 ft. from the beginning of a runway that was a couple ft. tall from the edge of the grass. Left main sheared, came through the left flap and removed the T/R on that engine. A/C slid off the runway and cleaned the PAPI system out smooth. Nicely done.
The only pos. outcome was that the pax (yes Virginia, there were pax on board), and crew walked away.
One has to wonder where this kind of stuff generates.
Next thing you know, CNN and Shep with FOX will be on their way to St. Mart. to explain why a 74 clipped a car and a fence, killing a few beach tourists/vacationers and destroying a perfectly good Boeing.
Pray this never comes to fruition.