Scary moment BA plane makes high-stakes landing just over tourists’ heads

An incredible video shows the scary moment a plane made a high-stake landing just over the heads of tourists.

Sometimes clips will have you jumping out your skin, and while this one isn’t necessarily scary, it might have you automatically ducking your head to take cover.

Skiathos airport in Greece is dubbed as the ‘European St Maarten’ by big aviation buffs because of its very low landing.

And just like the Caribbean island of St Maarten has its popular spot for watching jets lands, so does the Greek island’s airport.

SloMoSpotter

Pilots have to approach lower for Skiathos than they typically would for other landing strips due to its runway being just 1,628 metres long – rather than the usual 2,400 or 3,900 metres.

And sure, it’s standard practice for jets coming in here to be so low but it still turns out some squeaky-bum moments at landing.

In recent years, a British Airways Embraer E190 jet was captured arriving at the Greek airport.

Tourists and plane spotters had gathered on the road behind the runway to watch, as they tend to typically do.

Although, people are warned to not get too close to the famous runway as a sign reads: “Danger. Please keep away from aircraft blast.”

And in the video, people can be seen being pushed off a wall by the strong gust from that aircraft blast.

The BA plane literally gets so low it looks like it’s going to tap them all on the heads as it approaches as they all duck, with cameras in hand, obviously.

Users on X say it ‘looks scary’ and is ‘waaaaay too close’ while others call it ‘amazing’.

And the same thing happened with a WizzAir plane previously at Skiathos Airport when it almost looked as though it was going to land in the water.

airportal.hu

In the clip, it seems like the front wheel of the plane will narrowly avoid grazing bystanders’ heads before clearing the airport’s perimeter fence.

Dust from the road is seen being kicked up by the aircraft’s engine as several people lurch out of the way of the incoming plane, which appears to be flying just metres above.

That video was shared by GreatFlyer on YouTube and understandably attracted a plethora of comments, with one viewer asking: "How many of the spectators do you think needed new pants?"

“Incredible capture. That was extremely low!” another wrote. “Beyond insane! Great capture!”

Topics: Travel, Viral, Plane Etiquette

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_