Did this acrobatic duo risk lives with this stunt? Photograph of daring pose at Maho Beach provokes fury
- Yuliia Nos did a one-handed handstand on the head of her partner
- It seems that she was just mere feet away from the plane’s wheels
- Maho Beach is one of the world’s best plane-spotting locations
A Ukrainian acrobatic duo has been criticised for posing underneath a low-flying aircraft and ‘risking their lives and hundreds of others’.
Yuliia Nos, 25, did a one-handed handstand on the head of her partner, Oleg Kolisnichenko, on Maho Beach on the Caribbean island of St Maarten-St Martin as a cargo plane passed right overhead.
It seems that she was just mere feet away from the plane’s wheels as it came into land at the adjacent Princess Juliana International Airport.
Yuliia Nos did a one-handed handstand on the head of her partner, Oleg Kolisnichenko, on Maho Beach as a cargo plane passed right overhead. It seems that she was just mere feet away from the plane’s wheels as it comes into land at Princess Juliana International Airport on the Caribbean island of St Maarten-St Martin
But instead of being impressed, some people reacted with fury when Mr Kolisnichenko posted the striking image to his Instagram page.
One, ‘ahmedissaam’, wrote: ‘Do not ever do that again. Please. Not only risking your life but also hundreds of others.’
And 505aircraftmechanic said: ‘This beach is at risk of being shut down because of brainless antics like this.’
However, Mr Kolisnichenko, 36, told MailOnline Travel that they were never in any danger.
He said: ‘We had distance between Yulia’s feet and the airplane of around several meters. Everything was under control.’
The pair live in Kiev and have been working together since August 2015.
Maho Beach is one of the world’s best plane-spotting locations, with thousands of brave holidaymakers flocking there every day to stand directly under the flight path as jets buzz overhead.
The blast from the engines of passing planes has been known to blow beachgoers’ hats off their heads and pelt them with sand and other debris.
The last-ever hair-raising landing by a jumbo belonging to KLM on St Maarten, made in 2016
Signs warn visitors that jet blast from arriving and departing planes can cause serious injury or even death.
Thrillseekers have been known to hold onto a chain-link fence when a jet is preparing for take-off so they are blasted by the engines and lifted off the ground.
Princess Juliana, located on the Dutch side of the island (the other half is a French overseas collectivity), is the second-busiest airport in the eastern Caribbean region.
Its runway is less than half the length of those found at many international airports.
It was previously named one of the world’s most dangerous airports by the History Channel programme Most Extreme Airports.