A Frontier Airlines plane struck and killed a person while attempting to take off from a runway at Denver International Airport late on Friday night, authorities have said.
The collision caused a brief engine fire, which the Denver Fire Department quickly extinguished, the airport said in a statement.
Smoke could be seen in the cabin, and all 224 people on board were then evacuated via the aircraft’s inflatable emergency slides as a matter of precaution, Frontier said in a statement.
The person had jumped the perimeter fence and was hit and killed two minutes later while crossing the runway, according to the airport.
“We are deeply saddened by this event,” Frontier said.
The Frontier Airlines flight was taking off from Denver en route to Los Angeles International Airport around 23:00 local time (06:00 BST) when it hit the individual, authorities said.
An air traffic controller had just told the Frontier pilot they were clear for takeoff and wished them a good night when, after a short pause, the pilot suddenly called back to the tower, according to air traffic control audio from the incident.
“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the tower. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
“There was an individual walking across the runway, ” the pilot later says.
The plane was moving at a “high speed” at the time, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
“Late last night, a trespasser breached airport security at Denver Int’l Airport, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence, and ran out onto a runway,” Duffy said in a statement.
“No one should EVER trespass on an airport,” he added.
The person is not believed to be an airport employee and has not been identified, Denver International Airport (DIA) said in a statement.
“The airport has examined the fenceline and found it to be intact,” DIA said.
Photos and video shared by one of the passengers with the BBC’s US partner CBS News show smoke in the cabin, as well as what appears to be blood on the plane’s engine.
After evacuating the plane, the passengers were bused back to the terminal as emergency crews responded to the scene, DIA said.
Twelve passengers aboard the plane reported minor injuries from the incident, five of whom were taken to nearby hospitals, according to airport authorities.
The majority of the passengers have since left Denver on a new Frontier flight, the airport said.
The runway is closed while the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigate.
“We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved,” DIA said.
BBC
