St. Maarten Private Eye

After reading the discussion, I decided to approach the Dutch Safety Board (www.safetyboard.nl)

The Dutch Safety Board is an independent organization. It conducts investigations into the possible causes of disasters, serious accidents and other incidents in all policy sectors. The Board is invested with the responsibility to decide which incidents to investigate. At times, international regulations may oblige an investigation or call on the Board's cooperation. The Board is moreover not restricted to investigating single incidents but may also choose to investigate a series of incidents. The goal is to learn as much as possible from the investigated incidents. This provides the grounds on which the Board can recommend measures aimed at enhancing public safety and diminishing public unrest.(Quote from their website)

I sent them an email about the discussion here, gave the link the video and asked them whether an incident like this would lead to an investigation in the Netherlands or not.

Their answer is (translated) the following:

According to article 4b of the Kingdom Act instituting a Safety Investigation Board ("Rijkswet OVV"), the Safety Board is entitled to institute an investigation to incidents in, above, or beneath the surface of the Netherlands Antilles if the government of the Netherlands Antilles makes a request. There was no such request.

According to the "Rijkswet OVV" there is an obligation for investigations regarding aviational accidents or serious incidents. You should look in laws that apply for Sint Maarten whether there is such an obligation for the incident you describe.

The incident you are pointing at, would according to regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO Annex 13), as well as European guidelines for civil aviation investigations be classified as a "Runway Incursion". This is categorized as a serious incident.

So, according to this answer, I think an investigation should be carried out and the result should be published for the public. This is important, not only for the image that SXM has as a tourist attraction, but also for the people who are living or working close to the runway.

One of the previous posts mentioned that there already was an investigation. Does anybody has more details about this?
And does anybody know whether Sint Maarten has laws about obligation for such investigations?