We’ve flown into St. Maarten several times over the years to begin one of the Star Clipper sailings. I have been aware of the crazy fun that can happen at the end of the runway as people want to get jet blasted. The runway at St. Maarten is very short so all planes turn around at the end and almost hang their tails over the road making sure they get all of the distance to take off and avoid the mountains at the other end.
This video shows what the beach looks like when landing (it only lasts for a couple of seconds to see the crazy people trying to get blasted). Following that, is a video slice stolen from the internet showing a KLM 747 blowing people into the water. 747s are not flown into St. Martin anymore. Our hotel was on the runway and only a short hike to the end of the runway. So some of us had to make the hike. A few landings are shown as we waited for the blasting. The American 737 was our first hope, but was not close enough to the end of the runway for a good thrill. The Gulfstream fulfilled our fantasy. The plane fired up and tried to knock us down with a sand blast. We had to position our feet and lean into the blast to keep from going down. Unfortunately, the video stabilization in my iPhone smoothed out all of the action into a calm video. To see the power of the blast, keep an eye on the fence across the road and imagine that hitting you in the face.