Pedestrian dies after being hit by plane taking off from Denver International Airport
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A Frontier Airlines flight struck and killed a pedestrian on the runway at Denver International Airport during takeoff, airport officials said, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate.
The plane, en route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported that it struck a pedestrian during takeoff from DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. Friday,” the airport wrote on its official X account.
A spokesperson for the airport said the pedestrian, who jumped the perimeter fence, has died. They said the unidentified man was beaten two minutes after entering the airport. The person is not believed to be an airline employee.
“We’re on the runway,” the pilot can be heard telling the tower, according to the website ATC.com. “We just hit someone. We burned the engine.”
The pilot tells the air traffic controller that the plane has “231 souls” on board and that “everyone was walking on the runway.”
The air traffic controller replies that they’re “rolling trucks now,” before the pilot tells the tower that “there’s smoke in the plane. We’re going off the runway.”
12 passengers were injured
Frontier Airlines said in a statement that Flight 4345 was involved in the crash and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots canceled takeoff.” It was not immediately clear if the smoke was related to the crash involving the pedestrian.
The airline said 224 passengers and seven crew members were on board the Airbus A321. “We are investigating the incident and gathering more information in cooperation with the airport and other security authorities,” he said.
Passengers were removed from the plane on slides and transported by buses to the airport by emergency personnel. The spokesperson of the airport said that 12 passengers received minor injuries and five were taken to local hospitals.
The airport said the National Transportation Safety Board has been notified and that runway 17L, where the incident occurred, will remain closed pending an investigation. It is expected to open later on Saturday.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement posted to X that the pedestrian was an “unlawful person” who violated airport security and “intentionally scaled the perimeter fence, onto the runway.”
He said local law enforcement is investigating the incident with the help of the US Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration.
The pedestrian’s death occurred a day after a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while on duty at Orlando International Airport. In a statement, the airline said the employee was killed on Thursday night without providing details of the incident or the employee’s name.
“We are fully focused on counseling the family and caring for our team in Orlando during this difficult time,” the airline said. “We are working with local authorities as a full investigation continues to determine what happened.”
