On Friday night an airline flight Frontier Airlines had a tragic mishap that shocked all the passengers. A plane of the company aborted takeoff from the Denver International Airport after a person – still unidentified – was sucked into the turbines on the runway and died instantly.
The airport authorities indicated in a statement that the pilots of the flight 4345 of Frontier, which was destined for Los Angeles International Airport, reported «having hit a pedestrian during takeoff,» around 11:19 p.m. Friday, local time.
«We are stopping on the runway, we just hit someone, we have a fire in an engine. There was a person walking on the runway,» the pilot told air traffic controllers, according to audio published by TMZ.
As reported ABC Newsthe unidentified person was hit by the aircraft and was then partially sucked into one of the aircraft’s engines. Airbus A321neo.
Smoke was reported in the cabin and the takeoff was aborted amid a fire that was quickly extinguished by the Denver Fire Department.
Emergency crews responded to the scene and transported passengers, safely evacuated down the slides as a precaution and then onto a bus to the terminal.
The plane was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members. The first reports confirm that 12 passengers were injuredfive of whom were taken to local hospitals.
The airport has examined the fenceline and found it to be intact.
12 people reported minor injuries and 5 of these were transported to local hospitals.
Runway 17L remains closed for investigation and we expect it will be open within the next couple hours. (3/4)
— Denver Int’l Airport (@DENAirport) May 9, 2026
«We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other security authorities. «We are deeply shocked by this event,» the airline added.
For now It is unknown if the deceased was an airport worker or a civilian. that he entered by evading airport security, nor how he accessed that sector of the operating runway.
Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation of the United States, spoke through the social network X and provided some details: «Last night uAn intruder violated airport security at Denver International Airport, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence and ran onto a runway.»
Late last night, a trespasser breached airport security at Denver Int’l Airport, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence, and ran out onto a runway.
The trespasser on the runway was then struck by Frontier Airlines Flight 4345 during takeoff at high speed. The pilot stopped… https://t.co/x2oVY1b0AH
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) May 9, 2026
«The runway intruder was hit during takeoff at high speed. No one should ever break into an airport,» Duffy insisted.
The National Transportation Safety Board was notified and Runway 17L at Denver International Airport will remain closed during the investigation.
The precedent in Italy: the man who was absorbed by the engine of an airplane
Less than a year ago, in July 2025, there was a similar tragic case in northern Italy, when a man was sucked into a plane turbine of the Volotea airline company.
That time the incident occurred on an AirBus A319 aircraft, which was on the runway of Milan Bergamo-Orio airport, preparing for takeoff with 154 passengers on board and six crew members.
The engines were on, ready to start flight V73511, bound for Oviedo airport, the capital of Asturias, Spain. Suddenly, a crash was heard, and the flight attendants warned the travelers not to look out the windows because something terrible had happened.
They were then told that someone «had been sucked into one of the plane’s turbines,» who was neither a passenger nor an airport employee.
The Italian media later revealed who the fatal victim had been: the man who died was called Andrea Russowas 35 years old and would have accessed the airstrip through an emergency exit.
The man lived in Calcinate, near Bergamo, and security footage showed that he arrived at the airport in his red Fiat 500 at 10:35 in the morning. He left the vehicle parked at the terminal and ran towards a restricted area, which leads directly to the runway.
Airport security inspectors tried to stop him several times, but he went straight toward Volotea’s plane. He tried to get on the right engine, couldn’t hold on and slipped. He then went to the other turbine and lost his life there.
With information from the AFP agency.
