Originally Posted by
camachinist
As a young person, in the days before tugs and jetways, I used to enjoy getting blasted by the 727's and 737's at our local when they'd breakaway, rotate and head out to taxi. Usually the a/c wing was no more than 50-75' from the wide open "gates". It was a pretty good breeze but I never thought it dangerous, nor I assume did the airport, since folks seeing off pax would suffer it to wave goodbye to their family or friends...
And the 727s and the old 737s had low-bypass turbofans ... modern high-bypass turbofans have even lower exhaust velocities.
Actually, when one is doing a/c cold weather testing, it can be quite nice to let the engines run during lunchtime - as you can sit comfortably warm behind them.
Restarting them would require more JET A anyway...