An incident at Denver International Airport raised alarm on Friday when a Frontier Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles reportedly collided with a person on the runway, according to details shared with ABC News by an aviation insider.
The incident involved an Airbus A321, which was in the process of taking off from runway 17L when it seemingly made contact with an individual who was on the runway, the source informed ABC News.
Reacting promptly to the situation, the pilot halted the takeoff immediately.
One passenger sustained a minor injury during the incident, as per the aviation source’s report.
Following the evacuation, passengers underwent evaluation, a routine procedure to ensure everyone’s safety and health.
Recordings from air traffic control (ATC) captured the flight crew’s communication with the control tower, reporting the emergency as it unfolded.
“Tower, Frontier 4345, we’re stopping on the runway. Uh, we just hit somebody… we have an engine fire,” the pilot is heard on the recordings.
When asked how many people were aboard, the pilot responded, “We have 231 souls on board… There was an individual walking across the runway.”
Moments later, the pilot reported worsening conditions and the need to evacuate.
“We’ve got smoke on the aircraft, we’re gonna evacuate on the runway,” the pilot said.
Passengers were evacuated on the runway and are being bused back to the terminal, according to the aviation source.
Fire crews were dispatched to the aircraft to extinguish the engine fire.
Authorities have not released additional information about the person on the runway or the circumstances that led to the incident.
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