Heart-stopping moment plane brushes over beachgoers heads in 'lowest ever landing' at island airport
11 August 2022, 12:25 | Updated: 11 August 2022, 14:04
This is the heart-stopping moment a plane narrowly missed holidaymakers heads as it came in to land at a Greek island airport.
Dramatic footage of the WhizAir jet's landing was uploaded last week by an enthusiast who was positioned to watch planes touch down on Greece's Skiathos island.
The Airbus A321neo is seen approaching the runway and at first everything appears normal.
However, the aircraft comes a bit too close to comfort and seems to barely clear the perimeter fence before touching down at the Skiathos Alexandros Papadiamantis Airport.
The noise of the jet engines drowns out the gasps of the aviation buffs below as the planes passes over their heads while dust from the road is kicked up and a number of people can be seen ducking.
In another angle from a second camera, people's clothes are shown being buffeted by the gust caused by the jet.
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One young girl is even shown falling over backwards - knocked down by the force of the jet - while a woman loses her hat.
"How many of the spectators do you think needed new pants?" one person asked beneath the video, which was published by GreatFlyer.
GreatFlyer, whose YouTube channel features dozens of dramatic plane landings and take-offs, suggested that the Wizz Air pilots landing in Skiathos was the lowest ever at the airport.
The airport's runway is found in the north-east of Skiathos island, and is built in-between two hills that flank the stretch of tarmac.
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The relatively short runway runs north-to-south and from coast-to-cast, meaning pilots have to approach as low as possible in order to give themselves enough runway to land on and come to a stop.
Because of the short runway, some planes even have to take off with less fuel. Many flights then have to touch down minutes later in nearby Thessaloniki to refuel.
The YouTube account asked followers whether the landing was the “lowest ever” at the airport.
