In article , Ray wrote:
I remember when I was a kid, I used to regularly see DC-9's back themselves
out of gates using the thrust reversers. My understanding was that the only
reason it's not done anymore is because of noise and increased congestion in
the terminal areas.

They still do it at IAH (or at least did so a couple of years ago).

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"