Pedestrian dies after being hit airplane at Denver airport

DENVER — A Frontier Airlines airplane hit and killed a pedestrian on the runway of the Denver International Airport throughout takeoff, airport authorities stated, sparking an engine hearth and forcing passengers to evacuate.

The airplane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday,” in accordance with a put up on the airport’s official X account.

A spokesperson for the airport stated the particular person, who jumped a fringe fence, has died. They stated the unidentified particular person was hit two minutes after coming into the airport. The particular person isn’t believed to be an airport worker.

“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the management tower in accordance with the positioning ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”

The pilot tells the air visitors controller they’ve “231 souls” on board and that an “individual was walking across the runway.”

The air visitors controller responds that they’re “rolling the trucks now” earlier than the pilot tells the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”

Frontier Airlines stated in a press release that flight 4345 was the one concerned within the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether or not the smoke was linked to the collision.

The airline stated the airplane was carrying 224 passengers and 7 crew members.

Passengers had been evacuated through slides and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal. The airport spokesperson stated 12 passengers suffered minor accidents and 5 had been taken to native hospitals.

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

Denver Airport stated the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified and that runway 17L, the place the incident came about, was closed amid an investigation. It reopened Saturday round 11 a.m.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated in a put up on X that the particular person “breached airport security at Denver Int’l Airport, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence, and ran out onto a runway.”

He added: “No one should EVER trespass on an airport.”

The incident got here a day after a Delta Air Lines worker was killed whereas on the job on the Orlando International Airport. In a press release, the airline stated the worker was killed Thursday evening with out offering particulars of the incident or the title of the worker.

“We are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time,” the airline stated. “We are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred.”