52-Year-Old Tourist Injured by Jet Engine Blast at Popular Plane-Spotting Beach

A TOURIST has been left with severe injuries after she was thrown to the ground by a jet engine blast at a Greek island airport.

A woman, 52, was plane-spotting at Skiathos airport when the departing plane’s roaring engines knocked her to the ground.

Responding immediately, the emergency medical services took the Italian tourist to the Skiathos Health centre to undergo a CT scan to diagnose her injuries.

Doctors then urgently sent her via airlift to Volos General Hospital shortly after 6pm local time due the severe physical trauma where she is undergoing further treatment.

The local authorities have launched an to find out why the woman was so close to the plane.

Skiathos airport has been a hot-spot every for tourists and locals watching planes soar at close range.

Pilots here are required to make low landings, where the aircraft flies close to the ground or over obstacles, offering a thrilling spectacle for plane-spotters.

Earlier this year, a report ranked the Skiathos Alexandros Papadiamantis Airport as the worst airport in the world due to its location.

Some of the airports have runways stretching across the edge of a cliff or just a few steps away from a beach. Other spots are positioned next to city streets.

Todd Smith, co-founder of Safe Landing and former Thomas Cook pilot who has flown into Skiathos multiple times, told The Sun: “It’s certainly a tricky landing.”

“We have to land quite hard and we have to use a lot of braking which wears the brakes out and uncomfortable for passengers.”

“When we take off, we have to use a very high thrust setting because we have to use enough power due to the shortness of the runway.”

“We don’t often take off with full power but Skiathos is an airport that is likely for us to opt for this.”

Jet blasts are high-speed, intense streams of air that blast out of a plane’s engine, giving it the thrust it needs to take off.

Finlay Asher, aerospace engineer at Safe Landing, told The Sun: “The air from the [jet engine] is moving very quickly and is enough to blow over large objects; certainly people can be thrown tens of metres if they get too close.”

“That’s why you have clearance zones around engines at airports and they shouldn’t be ignited unless the aircraft is clear of people/objects.”

Maho beach, situated on the Dutch side of the Caribbean Island of Saint Martin, is another famous spot where sun-seekers are offered an engineering thrill.

videos show people standing on a beach that abuts Princess Juliana International airport.

As the plane prepares take-off, the jet blasts can be seen blowing tourists into the sea and whipping up a sandstorm.

In 2017, a 57-year-old woman died after she was knocked over by the jet blast and hit her head at this beach.

Local officials said that she was standing near the fence of the airport during its take off.