I was afraid that this would happen. Society once again manages to the lowest common denominator.
Weeks after an idiot ignored warnings and her own abilities when she decided to get herself killed by riding the fence at Princess Juliana, it appears that she has ruined it for everyone else.
In a story posted by the ‘St. Maarten News Network‘, plans are being formulated to re-route traffic and make it impossible for tourists and aviation fans to enjoy a pastime that has been in place for decades. The plan seems to entail rerouting vehicle traffic as well as to move the fencing much further away from the base of the runway, preventing thrill-seekers from hanging on to the fence when a 747 spools up her engines for take off.
I understand that the loss of life might be tragic to the friends and families of the deceased, but why go to the lengths of ruining it for everyone else just because ONE person decided to not pay attention to warnings, or did not know her own capabilities.
Once again, instead of finding a solution that satisfies everyone, lets just manage to societies lowest common denominator and protect all those fragile snowflakes from themselves. Why not just ban cars since people die in them all the time? Airplanes? yep, ban them too.
While they’re at it, why not just pave the damn beach at the base of the runway and turn it into a parking lot. You never know when a 747 will touchdown a bit early and plow through a bunch of beach-going bystanders. Might as well plan for that risk now.
The woman was irresponsible. SXM or anyone else should NOT be blamed.
Dumas. Dumb ass
Darwinism
Make the fence electric its there for a reason danger……
What is it you dont get.
My husband and I were in St. Martin for the first time in April this year.
I knew from the force I felt while STANDING ON THE BEACH that there was no way I would dare try holding onto the fence.
My husband is very strong, however he also made the decision to not try holding onto the fence.
I’m sad that a woman died, my deepest sympathies to her family, but she should have had better judgement.
Everyone else shouldn’t forgo an experience because of one person’s poor judgement.
So called blast diverter is an impractical solution considering that end of the runway serves as a landing threshold. Maybe the concerned authorities should just make the area safer,by removing the “unsafe” objects from the vicinity for us other idiots willing to tempt fate
Don’t waste money on redirecting the road and moving the fence further from the runway. Just install a jet blast diverter. It takes the jet blast upward and out of harms way.
This is absurd. Thousands of people have been hanging on to that fence for decades. Only one casualty. Going by that rule, we should ban high places, stairs, ladders, any sort of water, food, and basically anything that has ever caused anyone to die, no matter the circumstances.
To be honest, ever since I saw that bit of news, I knew this would be the outcome. Absolutely ridiculous.
I honestly can’t understand the mentality behind the protective nature of some people out there. If you do not agree with the author that is your right. But what is sad is that some honestly believe in the “responsibility ” of some “authority” to protect people against their own inalienable decisions. If that were to happen to me I would not want people to stop having fun. Also humans shouldn’t have to worry about people being offended by others comments. Be offended. Let me speak…
Silly unthinking malevolent self indulgent article. It has always been a daft place to be. Of coirse the authorities have a responsibility to prevent people putting thrmselves deliberately into danger.
fancy words notwithstanding, she had ample warnings all around her, yet her intelligence said sure, I’ll go anyway in spite of everything around me saying it’s a bad idea. You can’t fix stupid.
For all those that have made the choice to ignore the sign shown above and have not been injured doing this, your are fortunate.
For all those that have been injured, I hope you have healed and are doing well.
For those that will continue to ignore the warning sign and want to hang on to the fence, I hope no harm comes to you and I certainly hope your fate is not the same as the lady that recently lost her life.
Keep in mind we are not invincible. It has happened once and it can happen again…to anyone.
The entire incident is tragic regardless of what one wants to say about the victim and the choice she made.
Oh gawd, someone died so don’t say anything negative about them? Hold my beer…:
If I am about to cross a street and the signal is flashing DON’T WALK,and I walk anyway and get hit by a car, I am an idiot and deserve to be called so. But like many others I cross against the light and most times nothing happens. But if I did get hit for my stupidity, I wouldn’t expect them to change how people cross the street because of me.
I was in St.Maarten when this accident happened. We booked a place adjcent to the airport because we enjoyed the plane landings and the fun of the jet blast. The death of the lady put a damper on the week. Days after the incident people were back on the fence. If hanging on the fence was made illegal by local law, the problem would be solved. Nothing else needs to change.
If people think it’s rude to call somebody an idiot, open a dictionary and read. I absolutely agree with this written thought. All the individuals that travel to St Marteen actually want to enjoy their time spectating arriving aircrafts. Now this all will be scrapped.
HELLO PEOPLE!! wake up people are idiots do you think they put up warning signs for fun people are dumb ASSES!!! If u don’t not follow the warnings signs you DESERVE WHAT YOU GET!!! STUPID PEOPLE
Sorry to the family but these people need to respect the sing they put two fences not one for the safety of our tourist to come enjoy but after all the do what they want so sorry again for the family my heart goes out to u
The warnings were clearly posted. It is a shame that a well known tourist attraction will now be shut down because of one person’s fool hardiness – would I ever hang off the fence during a jet takeoff? No – but I appreciated having the choice.
Remove the concrete barrier with an alternative one if turisim is a factor. Restrict the level or intensity of the jet exhaust by modifying type of fencing.
It’s a shame that the lady died, but that’s the risk we take when we put ourselves into harm’s way. It’s also a shame that the rest of us have to suffer and are excluded from fun activities because people do things that exceed their capabilities.
The person who died didn’t ruin it for everyone else. She shouldn’t be called an idiot. That is not showing respect. It was a dangerous thing to try holding onto a fence to feel the jet blast and force. It’s unfortunate she died. I myself would never try it, not knowing that someone died. She didn’t ruin it for everyone else. Future lives will be saved if the sign rules are enforced. Just walking on the beach you can feel the force of the planes overhead! The warning is there. Death can occur and the fact is it did occur. It raises the risk.
@jo-ann
“The person who died didn’t ruin it for everyone else.”
She kinda did, considering no one will be able to do that again.
“It was a dangerous thing to try holding onto a fence to feel the jet blast and force.”
Not, it wasn’t. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people do it every year, for many years, and no one has died before. It clearly isn’t dangerous at all. It’s certainly not as dangerous as riding a bicycle, say. Should we ban all bicycles cause someone died while riding one?
And as an aside:
“That is not showing respect.”
Respect is earned, not given.
Let the planes fly on the other end of the runway when they take off
The island does not promote riding the fence. It promotes watching of planes taking of and landing from closeby. Like from the Sunset beach Bar. There are sign warning of jet blast. Play it safe and enjoy the landing and taking off from a safe distance. My condolences to the family of the victim.
Look at the guard rail every ten feet or less “Do not stand” and “Beware of jet blast” all down the guard rail, how much more warning do you need.
Kris you need to chill. The woman knew what she was doing and the risks involved. Any thrill seeker who knows death is one of the likely outcomes of their behavior is an “IDIOT” to some degree. The Author of this article is right on target. Lead your protected existance and leave the rest alone. You only live once. Throw caution to the wind. And apparently the girl did… literally.
Lol… no, not really. Nice try.
It would be very easy to put up a second fence on the beach side. It was something that was promoted by the island and everyone went down there to see the planes take off and land. You can’t find a brochure about the island that doesn’t promote this.
It’s so easy to be mean about other people’s “mistakes”- especially after the fact! Not too many of us, if we are honest, haven’t done “stupid things.” It was a terrible accident and you shouldn’t be so mean. Her daughter will probably see this. This was a human being. She does not deserve to be called the lowest common denominator. This article says more about you then it does about her. I hope some day when it’s you who needs some compassion that you find yourself surrounded by kinder people.
This article is nasty and cruel. The poor woman who ignored the warnings, like so many others at that beach do every single day, had no way of knowing that it would be the last thing she ever did. It’s hard to take the warning sign seriously when 20 other people are hanging off that fence and it’s clearly one big party and a sanctioned event. As far as I am concerned, the author of this article is the lowest common denominator. Nasty. Just plain nasty and lacking in compassion for other people.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I rest my case…….’Ignored Warnings’, ‘No Way Of Knowing’, ‘Hard To Take A Warning Sign Seriously’….you’ve made my argument for me!
It is very rude and inconsiderate to call the recently deceased “idiots”. While I agree with much of what you say in this article, there are kinder ways to express your frustration.
maybe a bit harsh, but I’m simply tired of people who get themselves into trouble because they fail to heed the threat or risk and then the rest of us are acted upon.
No, she was an idiot.
Cold.
#slowclap
Welcome to the Libertarian Party of the US.
Thats exactly how I feel about drones in National Parks. One is in the middle of no where, not a single other soul, car or anything is there in the middle of the desert but still you are not allowed to fly your drone in a NP in the U.S. just because some idiot messed up and ruined it for everyone.