The flight departed Denver for Los Angeles at approximately 11:20 p.m. Mountain Time on Friday.
Denver — Pedestrian hit by plane on runway A passenger died and about a dozen people on board were injured during a takeoff late Friday night at Denver International Airport.
When the accident occurred, Frontier Airlines Flight 4345 was preparing to fly from Denver to Los Angeles around 11:20 pm Mountain Time. The pilot aborted the flight and began evacuating passengers and crew.
A brief engine fire that broke out after the incident was quickly extinguished. Frontier said smoke was reported inside the cabin.
About two minutes later, a pedestrian was struck after jumping over a fence while crossing the runway, according to the airport. The identity of the person has not been released, but airport officials said they do not believe the person was an employee.
There were 231 people on board the aircraft at the time of the accident. All crew members and passengers have been evacuated, and parachutes have been deployed on the Airbus A321 aircraft for people to disembark. Emergency crews took them by bus to the terminal.
Twelve people were reported to have suffered minor injuries, five of whom were taken to local hospitals for treatment.
Mohamed Hassan, a passenger on the flight, described the chaotic scene and said he feared for his life.
“Honestly, I thought I was going to die,” he said. “A lot of people next to me were screaming and crying. I just closed my eyes. At the time, you’re not really thinking about anything, you know? Because we were about to take off and I heard the roar, so I wasn’t sure what was going on. I just felt like something really, really bad had happened.”
Frontier said the flight has been rescheduled and will depart Saturday morning.
“We are investigating the incident and coordinating with the airport and other security authorities to gather additional information,” the airline said. “We are deeply saddened by this incident.”
The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified, according to the airport.
This story is developing and may be updated as information becomes available.
