A Frontier Airlines flight from Denver International Airport had to be grounded after the plane struck and killed an unidentified man on the runway during takeoff, local officials said.
The refugee was hit by the plane two minutes after he jumped the perimeter fence on Friday evening, according to the airport. Video from the scene captured damaged engine blades, suggesting a trespasser had been driven into the turbine.
“We’re standing on the runway,” the pilot told the control tower. “We hit someone. We have an engine fire… A person was walking on the runway.”
An air traffic controller was heard warning his colleagues that the runway was closed after the incident saying: “I’ve got legs and arms on the runway… I’ve got a dead man on the runway.” One of the first responders was also heard telling the control “There appear to be human remains on the runway.”
The collision caused an engine fire and passengers had to be evacuated through a slide as smoke filled the cabin of the narrow-body Airbus A321. 12 of the 224 passengers on board the plane suffered minor injuries in the incident, while five of them needed hospitalization.
AWESOME::::GREAT PHOTOS::::So you understand what happened on a Frontier Airlines flight in Denver last night. A man jumped the airport fence at 11:17 pm. At 11:19pm – just 2 minutes later – he was hit by a fully loaded Airbus A321, speeding… pic.twitter.com/oX8VzUAihr
– The Clown (@TheClownNow) May 9, 2026
Passengers were able to capture real-time footage of the collision and the rescue process. One of the witnesses told KUSA-TV that the plane took off from the ground for a second, but landed again after hitting something.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the incident, warning in a post on X on Saturday that “no one should cross at the airport.”
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