An individual was killed by a Frontier Airlines plane at Denver International Airport (DEN) on Friday after jumping the perimeter fence and attempting to cross the runway as the plane was taking off.
The pilots immediately halted takeoff, alerted air control of the collision, and reported an engine fire.
“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot can be heard as saying in a recording posted by the ATC.com app, which covers air traffic radio. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
One of the plane’s engines appears to be coated in blood, according to a photograph circulating on social media.
Emergency personnel responded to the scene, and all 224 passengers were safely evacuated using emergency slides as a precaution before being returned to the terminal to depart on separate flights.
Twelve people reported minor injuries, five of whom were evacuated to local hospitals.
DEN confirmed the incident in a Saturday social media post, noting that the individual, who still remains unidentified, “is not believed to be an employee of the airport.”
US Transportation Department Secretary Sean Duffy described the individual as a trespasser who “breached airport security at Denver Int’l Airport, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence, and ran out onto a runway” in a Saturday X/Twitter post condemning the individual's actions.
"No one should EVER trespass on an airport," Duffy added.
He added that local law enforcement, aided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), is investigating the incident.