“Horrible & preventable": Frontier jet hits person on runway at Denver airport

A person was killed after being struck by a Frontier Airlines jet as it prepared for takeoff at Denver International Airport late Friday night (May 8).

Reports say the impact caused an engine fire warning and led to an emergency evacuation of passengers on board.

The flight, headed from Denver to Los Angeles, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday,” the airport wrote on its X account.

Authorities said the victim had entered the airfield by climbing over a perimeter fence and was not believed to be an airport employee. The individual died at the scene.

“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot can be heard telling the control tower in a radio transmission that was posted to ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”

The pilot tells air traffic control they have “231 souls” on board and that and “individual was walking across the runway.”

Moments later, the pilot said smoke was inside the cabin and announced plans to evacuate passengers directly on the runway.

Frontier confirmed Flight 4345 was involved and said the pilots halted takeoff after smoke was detected in the cabin.

The airline said the Airbus A321 was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members at the time.

“We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities,” the airline said in a statement.

Passengers exited the aircraft using emergency slides and were transported back to the terminal by buses.

Airport officials said 12 passengers sustained minor injuries during the evacuation, and five were taken to hospitals for evaluation.

“We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved,” the airport wrote on its X account.

Concerns over evacuation process

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board on Sunday (May 10) said it is gathering information about the evacuation.

As reported by the Associated Press, some passengers have raised concerns about the evacuation, saying they remained on the aircraft for several minutes while smoke filled the cabin and were then left standing on the cold tarmac after exiting.

Video footage also appeared to show a number of passengers evacuating with their carry-on luggage.

A “horrible & preventable tragedy”

A Denver Police Department spokesperson also said Sunday that the investigation remains active and that the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner will confirm and release the identity of the person found on the runway.

In a statement, the CEO of the Denver airport, Phil Washington, said he “knows” there are questions that need to be answered.

“As this is an active investigation with numerous other agencies involved, it is going to take some time as we are still confirming what information we can share at this time,” Washington said in a statement shared with the Associated Press. “This was a horrible and preventable tragedy that has affected many due to the actions of one person who apparently trespassed at an airport and lost their life as a result.”

Don't miss a single travel story: subscribe to PAX today!  Click here to follow PAX on Facebook.