KLM just had to towed after landing 🤔

Huhm. I wonder whether some people who thought they were going home on KLM today will be spending another night on island? Please post an update when you can.

Maho Beach Cam on PTZ is zoomed in on KLM and it looks like they are boarding.

You are correct, they do seem to be boarding. So must not have been much of a problem?

Apparently not , thank God.

Most likely a flat tire issue and spares are on-island.

According to the airport instagram it was a failure of the nose wheel steering on landing and the outbound flight is currently delayed.

KLM AIRCRAFT LANDS SAFELY AFTER MALFUNCTION OF NOSE WHEEL STEERING SYSTEM.

Simpson Bay, St. Maarten (February 26, 2023) – On Sunday, February 26, 2023, confirmed reports from the PJIAE Airport Operations Tower declared that KLM Airbus Flight 729, with aircraft type (A-330-203), encountered a nose wheel steering system malfunction upon landing. The aircraft landed at SXM Airport at approximately 3:26 PM.

KLM Flight 729 was later grounded at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA). The passenger manifest declared a total of 225 passengers and 11 crew members on board from the Royal Schiphol Airport with a destination to St. Maarten. All were reportedly safe upon landing.

The Airport's Operations reported on the scene at 3:29 PM, meanwhile, the runway remained closed to further assess the situation, and the aircraft was towed off the runway to the main apron. Following a full assessment, the runway was reopened at 4:10 PM.

A total of 259 passengers were scheduled for departure to Amsterdam and are currently delayed at the airport. Management is on location with the necessary teams to monitor the ongoing situation.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines #safetyfirst #safetravels

Scuba--I assume that is copied and pasted from some source, and possibly a copyright violation???

Regardless, apparently they were not able to take off.

Link

Copied and pasted from a Facebook page, so already publicly available.

OK, but people need to be cognizant if they are copying and pasting. Copyright is not something to be messed around with.

Currently scheduled for departure at 8:05pm tomorrow. Hope they resolve the issue.

We watched it land, and stop at the far end of the runway.

Yes. Copied and pasted from the PJIA Facebook page. Not a copyright infringement.

Scuba--Please state that in future.

Will do....

Here's a picture I just took of the KLM aircraft at PJIA - from a different angle and from a distance:

Looks like it is still here

Someone posted yesterday it was supposed to leave around 8 PM today. I don't see KLM or anything else on the Juliana departures list after 8 PM though. Maybe they scheduled it for when the airport would otherwise be closed, in case it still isn't fixed and they have to tow it again?

Yes because they are awaiting on the parts to arrive in order to repair the damage .

I posted it yesterday that the plane was scheduled to depart tonite ant 8:05pm SXM time. I gathered that information directly from the KLM website concerning the flight status of KL730 on Feb. 26th. The new flight number assigned was KL0730D.

The passengers on the delayed/cancelled KLM flight are guaranteed the compensation and accommodations provided by the airline under EU261. Passengers are entitled to hotel, food and transportation plus cash compensation of 602 Euros. What do you think AA or United would do for you if this was one of their aircraft?

Voice of experience when our AA flight last June was delayed out of SXM and we missed our connection. Got food vouchers, paid for overnight hotel stay and some monetary compensation.

Maybe give me a happy ending.

👎

Now scheduled to leave on Wednesday.
https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islan...m-flight-scheduled-to-leave-on-wednesday

Lol

In a similar predicament Sat PM prior to departure, there was a small chance of not leaving SXM. But I think AA knew if they didn’t get us out, where could they place 100+ of us overnight in high season on short notice?

They got us to MIA and switched crews, then on to NY

Odds on that KLM won't be leaving until tomorrow evening.

Just passed by the airport at 9:30 am. Two KLMs still there. This is Thursday….

There is a story in the Daily Herald about it, which so far isn't in the online edition. Said spare parts arrived on Tuesday, and a replacement plane for the disabled aircraft arrived YESTERDAY, but the stranded pax will be going out this evening. Not sure why if the replacement plane arrived yesterday, why they weren't able to leave yesterday. But the original aircraft still isn't fixed. The story said that some passengers left the island via Miami or NY on Monday, paid for by KLM, of course. In the meantime, folks who were stranded were accommodated at various hotels across both sides of the island, including some at Secrets. That would be nice, to be able to check out Secrets, for free!! Wonder how they decided who went where?

Nice writing and yes some did went to Secrets and the rest is leaving today.

Loading passengers right now on the KLM plane that came in yesterday

Very good for the stranded passengers .

Just took off over the water

Yes and very nice !

Glad to see they were finally able to leave.

The original KLM plane is still on the ground at SXM.

Well Plane got repaired and I think it should be leaving today.