SKIATHOS – A popular past-time on the northern Sporades island of Skiathos – taking photos of jet planes taking off at close range – turned out to be more than dangerous for a 61-year-old tourist seriously injured when the wash from a takeoff threw her off a wall.
She was not identified but Kathimerini said the blowback was so strong from the engines and she was close that it lifted her off the wall and tossed her back although it wasn’t said how or where she landed.
Doctors at the local Health Center found she had srious head injuries, had a shattered pelvis and a bruised right shoulder and left wrist. She was taken by boat to a hospital at Volos, the nearest mainland city.
It is the second similar accident in the past few weeks, the paper noted, the airport there having only one short and narrow runway next to the sea, a lagoon and a hilland close to some houses.
It’s a difficult position for pilots but the location allows a close view of takeoffs and landings that proves irresistible to many despite the danger of being so close to the aircraft on the popular island.
Many locals and tourists get close to the fence every day trying to snap pictures as planes fly close over their heads, local media reported, with hordes of tourists returning to Greece during the lingering COVID-19 pandemic.