Frontier Airlines Plane Hits Pedestrian at Denver Airport, Forces Evacuation

A pedestrian died on Friday night after being struck by Frontier Airlines Flight 4345 during takeoff at Denver International Airport. The Airbus A321, carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members, reported an engine fire and smoke in the cabin following the collision.

The airport official posted on X saying that the plane which was planned to start its journey from Denver to Los Angeles  International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday.”

Officials later confirmed that the individual had jumped a perimeter fence and entered the restricted airfield area moments before the collision. As per the authorities it had just been two minutes before the person got struck by the airplane.

The airport spokesperson said that the unidentified person was not believed to be an airport employee.

Some audio recordings from air traffic communications captured the moment after the collision. In the recordings the pilot said to the control tower, “We’re stopping on the runway.” He further mentioned, “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”

The pilot informed the control room that there were in total 231 people on board. The Air traffic control responded immediately to this situation by dispatching emergency crews to the scene.

The Frontier Airlines said the Airbus A321 was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members at the time of the incident. The airport authorities also reported that smoke was seen inside the cabin which in turn led the pilots to cancel their takeoff. It has not been made clear whether the smoke was directly related to the collision or the reported engine fire.

Later emergency evacuation was necessitated where the passengers were made to leave with the help of the emergency slides. Later the crew helped passengers get back safely back to the terminal.

As per the official statement received, 12 passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to the local hospital.

Denver International Airport authority assured that the National Transportation Safety Board has been notified that runway 17L will remain closed till all the investigation is completed near the area.

This tragedy happened just one day after another fatal airport-related incident in the United States, where a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while working at Orlando International Airport.