GOTCHA!
To the uninitiated, it would seem that near disaster was somehow miraculously averted at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport yesterday when the pilot of a Boeing 747-45EM belonging to the Taiwanese carrier, Eva Air, made a grave error during takeoff.
But the fact of the matter is that it was all just a hoax, played on us by some intrepid photographer fooling around with technology to see what he could come up with.   
According to one savvy blogger:
“The apparent danger is just an optical illusion. The photographer took the picture at a distance of hundreds of meters. This creates the impression that the plane and the spectators are close to each other, when there is in fact a distance of about 150 meters between them.
“I have calculated that the plane is actually in the air with over 1500 meters of runway left to go. The total length of the runway is 3800 meters, so there is no problem at all. No one was in danger. The pilots are doing a fine job. But the photo is fantastic. Compliments to the photographer.”
Another observed:
“Take a look at the picture again. Anyone that’s near to the plane — like those in the picture — would have been thunderstruck by the noise of the jet’s engines even before it got to where we think it is. But no one in the picture seems to care. The man under the body of the plane seems oblivious of the fact that the plane is above him and so close!!!”
Yet another put in his tuppence worth:
“The great timing and angle just makes this shot, and the size of the 747, look surreal.
The distance to the fence was 145 meters (475ft)… Yikes! I wonder if anyone computed the takeoff distance prior to the trip.”
And finally, another observer had this to say:
“This is an amazing picture of a disaster that didn’t happen. From the smallest airplane to the largest, weight and balance calculations are a critical part of flight safety.
“From the looks of this 747, the weight was within the CG envelope, but if they’d only added one more ‘marshmallow’ to each snack tray, this BIRD might not have cleared the fence!!!!” (Photo and info courtesy of Ron Cheong in Canada)