A Frontier Airlines flight from Denver International Airport had to be aborted after the jet struck and killed an unknown person on the runway during takeoff, local officials have said.
The trespasser was hit by the plane two minutes after jumping the perimeter fence late on Friday, according to the airport. Videos from the scene captured the damaged engine blades, suggesting that the trespasser had been sucked into the turbine.
”We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot told the control tower. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire… An individual was walking across the runway.”
An air traffic controller was heard warning his colleagues that the runway was closed after the incident, saying: “I do have limbs on the runway… I’ve got what appears to be a deceased person on the runway.” One of the first responders was also heard telling control that “there does appear to be human remains on the runway.”
The collision resulted in an engine fire and forced an evacuation of passengers via slides as smoke filled the cabin of the narrow-body Airbus A321 aircraft. Twelve of the 224 passengers on board suffered minor injuries in the incident, with five of them requiring hospitalization.
The passengers were able to film the exact moment of the collision and the evacuation process. One of the witnesses told KUSA-TV that the jet lifted off the ground for a split second, but landed again after hitting something.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the incident, warning in a post on X on Saturday that “no one should EVER trespass on an airport.”