A Frontier Airlines plane struck and killed an individual, who had jumped a fence and was on a runway at Denver International Airport was struck, news agency AP reported.
Moreover, the collision sparked an engine fire and compelled passengers to evacuate. The Los Angeles-bound flight was leaving from Denver when “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday,” according to a post on the airport's official X account.
A spokesperson for the airport confirmed that the person, who jumped a perimeter fence, died, as per reports. They said the unidentified person was hit two minutes after entering the airport. The person was not believed to be an airport employee.
“We're stopping on the runway,” the pilot told the control tower according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
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The pilot also said highlighted that they had “231 souls” on board and that an “individual was walking across the runway.”
To this the air traffic controller responds that they are “rolling the trucks now” before the pilot pointed out that they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”
Frontier Airlines said in a statement that flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the collision
The airline said the plane was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members.
“We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities,” the airline said.
Passengers were evacuated via slides and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal. The airport spokesperson said 12 passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to hospitals.
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