Late Friday night, a fatal incident unfolded at Denver International Airport (DIA) when a Frontier Airlines commercial flight bound for Los Angeles International Airport struck and killed an unauthorized individual who had illegally accessed an active runway, United States aviation and transportation authorities confirmed.
According to official statements from the airport, the unidentified person — who is not an airport employee, and has not yet been named by investigators — scaled DIA’s perimeter security fence roughly two minutes before walking onto the runway where Flight was beginning its takeoff roll around 23:00 local time (06:00 UTC+1 BST). A preliminary inspection of the fence after the incident found the main structure to remain fully intact, DIA officials added.
Unsealed air traffic control audio from the incident reveals that moments after a controller cleared the flight for departure and wished the crew a good night, the pilot immediately radioed the tower to report a collision and an ongoing emergency. “We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot told controllers. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.” The pilot later confirmed there had been a person walking across the active runway as the aircraft accelerated to takeoff speed. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the plane was traveling at high speed at the time of the impact.
The collision sparked a small engine fire that was rapidly extinguished by responding Denver Fire Department crews, per airport officials. Passengers reported visible smoke filling the aircraft cabin in videos and photos shared with CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner, which also showed visible damage including what appears to be blood on the affected engine.
As a standard precautionary measure, all 224 passengers and crew on board were immediately evacuated via the plane’s deployed inflatable emergency slides. Once evacuated, passengers were transported by bus back to the main airport terminal. Twelve passengers sustained minor injuries related to the emergency evacuation, with five individuals transported to local medical facilities for evaluation and treatment. Most passengers have since re-booked onto alternate Frontier Airlines flights and departed Denver as planned, airport authorities confirmed.
Both Frontier Airlines and DIA have released statements expressing profound sorrow over the fatal event. “We are deeply saddened by this event,” a Frontier spokesperson said. DIA’s official statement echoed that sentiment, noting: “We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved.” Secretary Duffy emphasized that runway trespassing poses unacceptable risk to all parties, saying: “No one should EVER trespass on an airport.”
The active runway involved in the incident has been temporarily closed while two leading U.S. aviation safety agencies — the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board — conduct a full on-site investigation to determine the full timeline and circumstances of the event.