224 passengers and seven crew members were evacuated via emergency slides. According to ABC News, the person struck was reportedly “at least partially burned” 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 reported on Saturday, May 9. “The pedestrian breached the perimeter fence and was struck just barely two minutes later while crossing the runway. The pedestrian is deceased, he is not believed to be an airport employee and his identity has not yet been established,” the airport stated in a press release.
The incident involved an aircraft from Frontier Airlines and occurred around 11:19 PM local time on Friday. “Twelve individuals on board the flight in question reported minor injuries, and five of them were transported to local hospitals,” the airport announced.
An audio recording released earlier on ATC.com featured an exchange between a pilot and air traffic controllers on the site: “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 using the slides as a precaution.” The aircraft, an Airbus A321, had 224 passengers and seven crew members, according to Frontier.
