Aviation Photo #2585593 Embraer 190LR (ERJ-190-100LR) - Embraer

"The shot of the year" in 2012 was the 1st arrival of 777 to SXM (check the description of such photo), "the shot of the year" in 2015 would be this low approach of ERJ in SXM :D

PS: Perviy nah!
PSS: Only 474 views now. Let's see how many there will be in few hours... days... months :)

People almost where killed there!

Good catch, but strange that an aircraft used to get the certificate for steep approach trials at LCY should then be used in an unnecessarily daft display of shallow-approach brinksmanship.

The airplanes are getting lower and lower. I fear something bad is going to happen one day.

Great capture! But I must say that such a low approach is definately NOT safe at all and absolutely unnessessary. Cool sight anyway :-)

Why is she flying into SXM? Great Shot

You call it skill, I call it reckless luck. Either way, the picture is a winner. Thanks!

Wow! Very nice bird!

How did it NOT hit the fence?!

I have seen hundreds of SXM pics, I have been to the beach myself, but I still have a hard time believing this was not edited. It looks like wheels are below the fence level, so how did they gain some lift in 50 or so meters needed to clear the fence? Crazy pic, I would love to see the video too!

Yes...my heart stopped and panic started to overcome me while sitting at my desk looking at this approach. OHHHHHHHH wooooooooooooow!

Perfect...

Great shot!!! The beach looks really crowded in this pic. Any particular reason why?

Great capture, but this is the polar opposite of great skills from the pilots. We might be aviation enthusiasts but, lets face it, the prerogative of some pilots to intentionally fly very low approaches over a crowded beach is getting silly now. There is going to be an accident soon and that will spoil SXM for everyone.

Winners! Anyone is going to beat them? :)

As always, some pilots want to show their skill. Embraer needs less space than a B747 to land (no need to land so short) but here you can see how dangerous can be for a lot of people when the pilot wants to show he is a tough guy.... Very nice picture!

How on earth(and maybe just a few inches above earth) did this clear the fence??! Great shot for probably the lowest jet ever over Maho beach and a 5 stars from me!

WOW, that's low!!

Brasil!!!!

This is stupid and reckless from the pilot. Anything else but skills...... His license should be withdrawn.

Exciting shot, maybe, but as a pilot I was taught several aspects of good airmanship, and one of those was "margins". He didn't need to do this, therefore he shouldn't have - since its not just his sorry a$$ he's risking.

That is SOME low approach! Quite the time to be hanging around Maho!

First, thanks very much for all the comments! This Embraer has made a technical stop at SXM, before continue to FLL, but I'm not sure for what motive.

I've seen some comments on facebook and others pages saying this photo is fake. Together with the very very low approach to SXM standards, there is some optical illusion. The aircraft was never near to this persons in the bottom of the photo, take a look at the aircraft shade and it gives a more accurate view. I've read about telephoto lenses effect too, but not in this case, it was taken with 16mm.

There is a video on youtube of this landing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FQFMzAeAqA

Take a look at where the pghotographer is standing then realize that all the people in front of him are standing several feet above his position at the sme time making the aircraft appear to look lower than it actually is. I suspect this image would not look "unusaually low" if the photographer had thos this from the road. Still a really good image of my Bucket List destination!!

So sad I missed this! I should have stayed more days.

Ya this is definitely an illusion of sorts since the photographer is lower then all them folks to the right side making it appear they are about to touch the plane.
Some call this one of the lowest approaches, I call it one of the lowest photo angles.

The mad girl jumping under the wheel was two feets short to loose her arms !
As stupid as the pilot... anyway 5 stars for the great catch (i'm hoping this shot will help in not repeating this foolish approach)

Nice

Great pic!

Pilots and people on the beach looking for a cheap thrill. But this is an accident with deadly consequences waiting to happen. The aftermath of people killed and injured should be avoided. They should declare the approach area on the beach out of limits at all times!

Hmm! What would happen if the airplane had an accidental discharge disposal of the toilets over the beach? Would that keep these beach clowns from trying that stunt again?

I have seen a lot of comments about the photographer being lower on the beach versus the runway. However, there are videos on YouTube that can defeat the idea that this was made to look lower than it really is.

Incredible shot! And indeed, this is why people go to that beach, and in some cases, St. Maarten in general. This crew is certainly giving the people what they came for. But I don't think the people that stand directly beneath the aircraft are very smart... But then again, maybe they weren't expecting him to be that low... Craziness regardless.