A Frontier Airlines passenger jet hit and killed a person on a runway at Denver International Airport late Friday night, May 8.
This forced pilots to abort takeoff as one of the engines caught fire and smoke filled the cabin.
The aircraft involved was Flight 4345, which consisted of an Airbus A321 that carried 224 people along with its crew of seven. At about 11:19 p.m., the plane had just begun takeoff for the Los Angeles International Airport.
The identity of the person is still unknown as NTSB and FSS investigate how someone gained access to an active runway.
For now, it is unclear whether the person was an airport employee or a common man.
Denver police have confirmed that they are now assisting with the investigation and have “no further information to provide at this time.”
How did the incident occur?
As per air traffic control audio, the aircraft’s pilot made an urgent call stating: “Tower, Frontier 4345, we’re stopping on the runway. Uh, we just hit somebody… we have an engine fire.”
“There was an individual walking across the runway,” the pilot added.
Runway 17L remains closed for now. The victim’s identity will be released once the next of kin are notified.
