On Friday night, a Frontier Airlines plane tragically collided with an individual during takeoff, causing a partial engine blaze and leaving the aircraft unable to continue its journey.
Frontier Flight 4345 was en route to Los Angeles International Airport when its pilots reported hitting a “pedestrian” as they departed from the runway at Denver International Airport around 11:19 p.m., according to airport authorities.
The person, whose identity remains unknown, was reportedly pulled into one of the engines of the Airbus A321neo, resulting in a brief engine fire, as detailed by sources to ABC News.
The pilot communicated the emergency over the radio, stating, “Tower, Frontier 4345, we’re stopping on the runway. Uh, we just hit somebody… we have an engine fire,” based on audio obtained by the news outlet.
The takeoff was aborted due to the detection of smoke within the cabin.
Denver firefighters responded promptly, extinguishing the fire, while all 231 passengers and crew members safely exited the aircraft.
One passenger had suffered minor injuries and each person on board was evaluated as part of standard protocols, according to ABC News.
The stranded passengers were bused back to the terminal and a rescheduled flight is expected to take off for LAX at 6 a.m. local time, according to FlightAware.
It was not immediately known if the person killed was an airport worker, or how they had gotten onto the active runway.
Airport officials have closed the runway as an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
