224 passengers and seven crew members were evacuated through emergency slides. According to ABC News, the person struck was reportedly “at least partially struck” by the engine.
An individual who breached the perimeter of Denver International Airport in the United States was struck by a plane that was about to take off, the airport announced on Saturday, May 9. “The pedestrian breached the perimeter fence and was struck barely two minutes later while crossing the runway. The pedestrian has been declared deceased, it is not believed to be an airport employee and their identity has not yet been established,” the airport said in a statement.
The incident involved a Frontier airline plane and occurred around 11:19 PM local time on Friday. Among the passengers on the specific flight, “twelve people reported minor injuries and five of them were transported to local hospitals,” the airport said.
An audio recording published on the specialized site ATC.com captured the exchange between a pilot and air traffic controllers: “we are stopping on the runway, we just hit someone, there was a person crossing the runway.”
According to a statement from Frontier Airlines, “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff. Passengers were then safely evacuated through the slides as a precaution.” The aircraft, an Airbus A321, had 224 passengers and seven crew members, according to Frontier.
