Tourists criticised over ‘stupid’ photo

THIS couple snapped an incredible image as a plane came in to land overhead. They didn’t expect the swift backlash.

IT’S a famous beach that tourists flock to in order to snap incredible images of planes landing hair-raisingly close by.

Maho Beach at Princess Juliana International Airport also has a dark side, with visitors warned time and time again of the dangers of getting too close to the approaching aircraft — just last year a woman lost her life after being hit by a jet blast on the shore.

But for some, the appeal of taking once-in-a-lifetime shots proves too tempting. Tourists Oleg Kolisnichenko, 36, and Yuliia Nos, 25, have taken the search for the perfect photo to the extreme, sharing a jaw-dropping photo on social media showing them performing a one-handed handstand perilously close to an incoming jet.

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The acrobatic duo, who have been performing together for three years, confessed that they only realised after the fact just how dangerous the stunt was.

The duo have been criticised over the snap. Picture: SWNS/Mega

“We absolutely love acrobatics and we like to have fun with it outside of work,” said Nos, from Kiev, Ukraine.

“The beach really is dangerous yet exciting at the same time. A lot of people were taking pictures with a plane above their heads but we had some idea to make something cool,” she said.

“After a few tries, we managed to perform it as the plane arrived, but we didn’t expect it to be so big and so close to us. It didn’t touch my feet but I felt so much air from the plane and I lost my balance.

“It was so much fun and exciting but it was only after I realised how dangerous it was.”

Their stunt appeared a bit too close for comfort. Picture: SWNS/Mega

The image, which was taken last month, has been met with intense criticism.

One Instagram user wrote: “Extremely stupid. When the plane hits her foot she will actually never walk again. What a stupid move.”

Another said: “Stupidity at its finest.”

Tourists are warned of the dangers.

Others were sceptical of the snap, questioning if it was photoshopped due to the apparent lack of the woman’s shadow on the ground alongside her partner’s.

It’s still a popular spot for plane watchers.

The planes come in for landing very close.