Frontier Airlines Flight: Man Breaches Security, Climbs Fence onto Runway and Dies
A man breached security at Denver International Airport, scaled a fence onto the runway, and was struck by a Frontier Airlines aircraft during takeoff on May 8, killing him; all 224 passengers safely evacuated despite an engine fire.
BBC reported on May 10 regarding an unexpected incident at Denver International Airport in Colorado, USA, around 11:00 p.m. local time on Friday, May 8. A Frontier Airlines Airbus A321 Flight 4345 struck a man who died during takeoff. Audio recordings from air traffic control revealed the pilot reported "we just hit a person" and "our engine is on fire." Fortunately, firefighters extinguished the fire quickly and all 224 passengers evacuated using emergency inflatable slides. While everyone was safe, 12 passengers sustained minor injuries. Frontier Airlines stated the individual jumped over the airport perimeter fence about 2 minutes before the tragic incident occurred, just after air traffic control cleared Flight 4345 for departure. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated the aircraft was moving at high speed when the intruder deliberately breached Denver International Airport's security system by scaling the fence and running onto the runway. Duffy emphasized "no one should breach an airport." He noted that commercial airliners typically take off at speeds between 150-180 mph (240-290 km/h). Denver International Airport administration does not believe the trespasser was an airport employee, and inspection of the perimeter fence found it to be intact.
