Jet blast: why engine exhaust can kill – and what Maho Beach teaches

A leisure jet lines up at the start of the runway, the engines roar, and behind the fence people cheer, clinging to the chain link. On video it looks like harmless fun. In reality, they are standing in an air stream that can hurl people several meters. Jet blast is the most underestimated danger in plane spotting – invisible, loud and deadly if you are in the wrong place. This article shows you how powerful engine exhaust really is, what happened at Maho Beach and at the runway end in Skiathos, and how to behave at spots like these.

Jet blast: the short answer

Jet blast is the stream of hot exhaust and accelerated air behind a running jet engine. It occurs as soon as an engine is running and gets stronger with every thrust setting. It is most dangerous where aircraft apply takeoff thrust: at the start of the runway. Anyone standing behind the aircraft there is hit not only by wind but also by sand, gravel and everything else the blast carries along. And you can be thrown against fences, walls, vehicles or onto concrete.

The rule of thumb for spotters is therefore as simple as it gets: never stand behind an aircraft that is applying thrust or is about to. Everything else in this article explains why this rule is so uncompromising.

The values come from a technical article in Boeing’s magazine Aero on engine hazards at airports. They describe the order of magnitude for large airliners; depending on type, engine and thrust setting, the figures differ in individual cases.

How powerful engine exhaust really is

Modern turbofan engines, like those CFM International builds for the Boeing 737 and the A320 family, draw in huge volumes of air at the front and expel it at high speed at the back. This very thrust propels the aircraft – and it hits everything standing behind the engine. What the engines of the common types look like and how to tell them apart is shown in the guide identifying engines.

What matters for the danger is the thrust setting. Roughly, three situations can be distinguished:

Situation	What happens	Danger to people behind
Idle at the stand or holding point	Engines are running, aircraft is stationary or taxiing slowly	Already storm force right behind the tail; loose objects fly
Breakaway	A short burst of thrust to get the heavy aircraft moving	Blast becomes much longer and stronger, sand and stones are accelerated
Takeoff thrust at the start of the runway	Full or reduced takeoff power, aircraft accelerates	Mortal danger over a long distance behind the aircraft

The Aero article describes how the blast speed can quickly double to triple compared with idle when the throttle is advanced. Based on Boeing data, the danger zone behind a large jet extends a good 100 meters during breakaway and, at takeoff thrust, even several hundred meters depending on the type.

Why the blast is so treacherous

Three characteristics make jet blast more dangerous than it looks on video:

• It is invisible. Exhaust and air have no color and no visible edge. You do not notice where the blast begins until you are standing in it.
• It comes suddenly. Between calm idle and takeoff thrust there are only seconds. The pilots cannot see you and cannot wait for you.
• It carries projectiles. Sand, gravel, shells and stones become missiles. Eyes, face and camera are especially at risk. The Aero article even describes a case in which an engine run lifted an asphalt slab of roughly six by six meters off the ground.

Heat and noise come on top. Directly behind the engine the exhaust is hot, and the volume at the start of the runway is harmful over time without hearing protection. How to protect your ears is covered in the article aircraft noise and your hearing.

Maho Beach: what happened there

Maho Beach on the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten is probably the most famous spotting spot in the world. Landing aircraft pass less than 30 meters above the sunbathing beach onto Runway 10 of Princess Juliana International Airport. Between the beach and the start of the runway there are only a road and the airport fence. Everything important about light, times and vantage points is in our spot guide Maho Beach at Princess Juliana Airport.

The problem: departing aircraft begin their takeoff roll exactly where the landings come from. They taxi to the west end of the runway, turn their tails toward the beach and apply thrust. The blast then hits the road, the fence and the beachgoers head-on. Some visitors seek out exactly this moment. They hold on to the fence to be “blown away” and have themselves filmed doing it.

The warnings came early

That this is dangerous was known long before 2017. In April 2012, a video went around the world showing a woman being ripped off the fence by the blast of a departing jet and hurled head over heels toward a concrete barrier. At the time, the airport pointed in a statement to the existing double fences, warning signs and conspicuously painted guardrails, and announced it would enforce the warnings more strictly together with the government.

As early as 2000, a tourist from Switzerland had been seriously injured there; a court then obliged the airport to put up clearer warning signs. The signs at the fence now explicitly warn of serious injury up to and including death – and are still ignored again and again.

July 2017: the fatal accident

On July 12, 2017, a 57-year-old tourist from New Zealand was holding on to the fence behind Runway 10 while a Caribbean Airlines Boeing 737 was lining up for takeoff. The engine blast ripped her off the fence and threw her backward. She hit her head on concrete and died of her injuries. According to reports at the time, it was the first known death from jet blast on this beach.

An additional fence now stands behind the runway end, keeping visitors away from the main fence. The authorities continue to warn of serious and fatal injuries. In November 2025, the police, public prosecutor’s office and aviation authority of Sint Maarten also launched a campaign against dangerous behavior on the beach, aimed mainly at unauthorized drone flights and throwing objects at low-flying aircraft. This shows: at Maho Beach, the authorities are long past being willing to let everything pass as harmless tourist fun.

Skiathos: the same pattern in Europe

What happens in the Caribbean can happen in Europe, too. At the south end of the short runway on the Greek island of Skiathos, a public road runs directly behind the starting point, separated from the airport grounds only by a fence. When a jet takes off on 01, its tail faces the road. There stands the island’s only traffic light, which stops traffic during departures to prevent exactly these jet blast accidents.

Accidents still happen again and again. According to media reports, in 2019 a twelve-year-old British boy was thrown about ten meters by the blast of a departing leisure jet and had to go to the hospital. In the years since, media have also repeatedly reported people being blown over and injured at the runway end. You can find more on the spot itself, the safe vantage points and the season in the guide runway end at Skiathos Airport.

Things are similarly tight at other cult spots, for example Col de la Tourmente on St. Barth, where small propeller aircraft approach just above a roundabout. There, too, the rule applies: beware of propeller wash on takeoff; more on that in the article plane spotting on St. Barthélemy.

The lessons: what you take away

The accidents share a common pattern. None of the injured people was on forbidden ground. All of them stood on publicly accessible areas – but in the wrong place at the wrong time, often deliberately, for a video or a thrill. Clear rules follow from this.

Extra caution with children

Children are light and do not react as quickly as adults. Keep them by the hand during departures, well away from the road and fence, and explain beforehand why you do not stand behind the aircraft. Tips for relaxed spotting days with kids are in the article plane spotting with children.

Ladders and elevated positions

Anyone standing on a ladder or wall loses their balance faster in the blast and falls from height. At spots with jet blast danger, a ladder in the extension of the runway has no place. What is generally allowed at the fence with a ladder or step stool is explained in the post ladder, step stool and tripod at the airport fence.

Where do I stand safely?

Whether a location is safe comes down to a few questions. This overview helps you assess it on site.

At most German airports the situation is much more relaxed: spotters’ hills, observation decks and fence paths are generally far enough from the starting point or off to the side. Still, it is worth quickly checking at every new spot where the aircraft apply thrust. You can find general rules for behavior at the fence in the article proper behavior at the airport fence, and the legal side in an overview in Is plane spotting legal?.

On the ground too: taxiways, positions and APU

Jet blast is not only an issue at the start of the runway. On the apron, aircraft turn while taxiing and push out of parking positions, briefly applying thrust as they do. That is why ground staff have clear exclusion zones behind running engines. If you take part in an apron tour or an airside tour, follow your guide’s instructions strictly. What else is running behind the tail, such as the auxiliary power unit, is explained in the article APU, ground power and PCA.

Widebody aircraft such as the Boeing 747-400 with four engines also produce an especially wide blast. At spots where freighters or long-haul jets take off, the danger zones are correspondingly larger than with a small regional aircraft.

What to keep in mind

• No video is worth it. The moment in the jet blast cannot be controlled. The accidents at Maho Beach and Skiathos show how quickly fun turns into an emergency room.
• Do not rely on others. That many people are standing at the fence does not make the spot any safer.
• Show respect. Anyone who ignores warnings endangers not only themselves but also the reputation of all spotters – and with it access to spots. More on this in the code of conduct for plane spotters.
• Throw nothing, fly nothing. Drones and objects near runways are no minor matter; they directly endanger air traffic and are strictly prohibited in many places.
• Help in an accident, do not film. If someone is injured, call emergency services and give first aid instead of pointing your phone at the scene.

Conclusion

Jet blast is not an abstract danger but pure physics: an airliner blows at hurricane force even at idle, and at takeoff thrust the danger zone reaches far behind the aircraft. At spots like Maho Beach and Skiathos, where public areas lie directly behind the starting point, this has led to serious injuries and, in 2017, a death. The lesson is simple. Enjoy the low landings, but leave the extension of the runway as soon as an aircraft lines up for takeoff – and never hold on to the fence.