A person was struck and killed by a Frontier Airlines jet as it accelerated for takeoff at Denver International Airport late Friday, after breaching a perimeter fence and walking onto an active runway, airport officials said. The collision ignited an engine fire and sent smoke billowing through the cabin, forcing pilots to abort the departure and evacuate 231 people via emergency slides.
The incident unfolded at about 11:19 p.m. on runway 17L. “Frontier flight 4345, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN,” the airport said in a statement posted on its official X account.
Audio captured by the site ATC.com recorded the pilot’s urgent call to the control tower. “We’re stopping on the runway. We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire,” the pilot said, adding that there were “231 souls” on board. Moments later, the pilot reported smoke in the aircraft and told the tower they would evacuate on the runway.
Frontier Airlines confirmed in a statement that flight 4345 was the aircraft involved, and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the collision. The plane was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities,” the airline said.
Passengers evacuated via slides and were bused to the terminal. The airport spokesperson said 12 passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to hospitals.
One passenger, Jacob Anthens, posted video showing people sliding down the inflatable chutes with backpacks, as well as photos of what appeared to be a damaged engine. “As we were lifting off the engine of the plane exploded. There was so much smoke we couldn’t even see 1 ft in front of us,” Anthens wrote on his Facebook page. He said passengers waited for over an hour on the runway with “no transport or help with the cold.”
Other video from the cabin showed passengers walking calmly down the aisle and using the slide to exit, after being told to step away from the aircraft.
A spokesperson for the airport said the person, who jumped a perimeter fence, died two minutes after entering the airfield and is not believed to be an airport employee. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X that the person “breached airport security at Denver Int’l Airport, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence, and ran out onto a runway,” adding: “No one should EVER trespass on an airport.”
The National Transportation Safety Board was notified and runway 17L was closed amid the investigation. It reopened Saturday at about 11 a.m.
The collision came one day after a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while working at Orlando International Airport. Delta said in a statement that it was focused on supporting the employee’s family and was working with local authorities to determine what occurred, without providing further details.