A person who jumped a perimeter fence onto an active runway at Denver International Airport was struck and killed by a Frontier Airlines jet during takeoff Friday night, airport authorities said. The collision triggered an engine fire and forced 231 people on board to evacuate via inflatable slides.
The airport said the person entered the airfield approximately two minutes before being hit by Frontier flight 4345, which was bound for Los Angeles, at around 11:19 p.m. The person has not been identified and is not believed to have been an airport employee.
“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot told air traffic control, according to ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.” The pilot later told controllers the aircraft had “smoke in the cabin” and that they would “evacuate on the runway.”
Twelve passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to hospitals, the airport said. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X that the person had “deliberately scaled a perimeter fence” and added: “No one should EVER trespass on an airport.” The National Transportation Safety Board was notified, and runway 17L remained closed until Saturday morning.
The incident is under investigation, Frontier Airlines said. This is a developing story.
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