Tourist seriously injured from jet blast at Greece’s Skiathos Airport
Airbus A330 landing
Skiathos airport is a favorite spot for planespotters. A tourist has sustained serious injuries after being hit by the jet wash of a plane taking off at Skiathos airport Wednesday Jul. 6.
The 61-year-old woman was standing on a ledge trying to take photos of the plane taking off, when a strong gust from the plane’s engines hit her and threw her off her perch.
Doctors at the local Health Center found she had sustained serious head injuries, a shattered pelvis, and a bruised right shoulder and left wrist. The woman was taken by boat to a hospital at Volos, the nearest mainland city.
It is the second similar accident in the past few weeks. In June, a 79-year-old man suffered minor injuries after being hit by a passenger airplane’s jet blast.
The man was standing outside the fenced area of Skiathos airport in the northwest Aegean around 1 p.m. when he was thrown on the ground by the force of a plane’s turbines. He was transferred to the local health center where he was treated for scrapes and bruises.
Skiathos Alexandros Papadiamantis International Airport is known for its low landings. Its one short and narrow runway close to homes and hemmed in by the sea, a lagoon and a hill, is a difficult one for pilots to navigate, but its location makes for spectacular takeoffs and landings.
It an extremely popular destination for people known as “planespotters.” Many locals and tourists get close to the fence every day trying to snap pictures as planes fly close over their heads, local media report.
Despite prominent signage and warnings from the authorities for people to steer clear of the area around the airport runway, many tourists approach to take a picture or shoot a video of incoming aircraft.
The island airport is frequently compared to Princess Juliana International Airport on the island of Saint Maarten in the Caribbean Sea for its runways which are just feet away from the sea and are particularly challenging to pilots. greekreporter.com