A pedestrian was struck and killed by a Frontier Airlines flight at Denver International Airport late Friday night after jumping a perimeter fence and walking onto the runway, DIA officials said.
Twelve people had minor injuries after the collision caused an engine fire on Frontier Flight 4345, the airport said in a statement on X. Five were taken to the hospital.
Emergency crews responded to the airport at 11:19 p.m. after the flight crew reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff, DIA officials said in a statement early Saturday morning.
Denver Fire Department crews quickly extinguished the engine fire, according to the airport.
DIA officials do not believe the pedestrian was an airport employee. They have not been identified.
Airport workers “examined the fence line and found it to be intact,” DIA leaders said on X at 7:31 a.m.
The Los Angeles-bound flight hit the pedestrian about two minutes after the pedestrian jumped the fence, according to DIA.
“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot told the control tower, according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
The air traffic controller responded that they are “rolling the trucks now” before the pilot told the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”
#BREAKING
ATC Audio:
• “Tower, Frontier 4345, we’re stopping on the runway.”
• “Uh, there we just hit somebody… we have an engine fire.”
Crew reports 231 souls on board + fuel… pic.twitter.com/D0yVxN0HBp— SLCScanner (@SLCScanner) May 9, 2026
Passengers evacuated the airplane via slides.
There were 223 passengers and seven crew on the Frontier flight, and most passengers were taken to the terminal by bus and have since left on a different Frontier flight, DIA and airline officials said.
Airport leaders notified the National Transportation Safety Board about the collision and said runway 17L is still closed for the investigation but will likely reopen later today.
NTSB spokesperson Sarah Taylor Sulick said the agency is coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration, airport authorities and local police to gather information about the crash.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also released a statement about the crash on X, stating that “No one should EVER trespass on an airport.”
The crash comes one day after a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while on the job at the Orlando International Airport. In a statement, Delta officials said the employee was killed Thursday night without providing details of the incident nor the name of the employee.
This is a developing story.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.