http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAfQwDizpRo St. Maarten has a extremely short runway for 747's therefore they need come in low and slow, not counting the 3000 Ft high mountain, and the towns about 500 Ft off the other side of the runway!
St. Maarten and Kai Tak airport have some of the craziest landings you will ever see, well Kai Tak DID but it was shut down and a new one was built a few miles away.
Here's a video of a 747 landing with some cross winds at the old Kai Tak
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtnL4KYVtDE For anyone wondering why he didn't come straight in, its because there's roughly 5000 Ft high mountains behind the Runway, and if they came in from the other end of the Rwy (which they did occasionally) They would have a strong tailwind.