Additional Coverage:
A tragic incident unfolded Friday night at Denver International Airport when a Frontier Airlines aircraft struck a pedestrian on the runway during takeoff.
The flight, bound for Los Angeles, reported the collision around 11:19 p.m., according to the airport’s official social media account. Video footage from the scene captures the plane accelerating down the runway before a loud impact is heard, eliciting gasps and screams from passengers aboard.
Airport officials confirmed the pedestrian, who had illegally entered the airfield by jumping a perimeter fence just minutes earlier, died as a result of the collision. The individual was not an airport employee.
In communications captured by ATC.com, the pilot informed air traffic control, “We’re stopping on the runway. We just hit somebody.
We have an engine fire.” The pilot also confirmed there were 231 people on board and that the person had been seen walking across the runway.
Emergency responders were dispatched immediately, with the controller reporting, “I do have limbs on the runway… I believe the aircraft struck an individual…I’ve got what appears to be a deceased person on the runway.”
Frontier Airlines identified the plane involved as flight 4345, an Airbus A321 carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members. The airline said the pilots aborted the takeoff after smoke was reported in the cabin, though it was unclear whether the smoke resulted from the collision.
Passengers were evacuated using emergency slides and transported back to the terminal by bus. While 12 passengers sustained minor injuries, five were hospitalized for treatment.
Denver International Airport confirmed that the National Transportation Safety Board has been notified and that runway 17L, the site of the accident, remains closed for investigation. Officials anticipate reopening the runway later today.