Frontier Airlines jet bound for LAX hits person on runway in Denver, aviation source tells ABC News – ABC7 Los Angeles

A Frontier Airlines flight headed to Los Angeles struck and killed a person who reportedly scaled a fence and ran onto a runway during takeoff Friday night at Denver International Airport.

The incident happened at around 11:19 p.m. MT Friday when Frontier Flight 4345 reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff, according to a statement from Denver International Airport.

The person was at least partially consumed by one of the engines, an official confirmed to ABC News, igniting a massive engine fire. Passengers said smoke filled the plane within seconds.

Some people who were on the flight finally reached LAX on Saturday morning. Eyewitness News spoke to some of the passengers.

“It was like boom! And then you see the flames come, and then the smoke comes, and it’s just horrible,” said passenger Vanilla Ellis.

“And I’m just waiting for the masks to come down, and they never come down. So everyone’s having struggle, like, we’re struggling breathing. We are like, panicking,” passenger Brandon Dee said. “Someone said that they’re going to punch the window open. People are recording. I’m just covering my mouth. I’m just trying to like, stay calm.”

There were 224 passengers and 7 crew members on board, Frontier said.

Passengers evacuated the aircraft on the runway via slides and were bused to terminals by emergency crews.

All those onboard the plane were evaluated, which is standard procedure following an evacuation.

Preliminary reports are that 12 were injured and five were taken to the hospital, according to the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

“They had us go into lines when everyone got off the plane. And they went up and down and said, like, ‘Is anybody injured? Does anybody need to go to the hospital? Is anybody injured?'” said passenger Chloe Kuns. “And yeah, they checked in on us. They were doing the best they could.”

Air traffic control audio from ATC.com captured the crew reporting the emergency to the tower.

“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 audio from ATC.

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 the need to evacuate.

“We’ve got smoke on the aircraft, we’re gonna evacuate on the runway,” the pilot said.

The Denver Fire Department responded to the scene and extinguished the fire.

Duffy said Saturday the victim had breached airport security, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence, and ran onto the runway. The person was struck by the plane during takeoff at high speed, Duffy said.

Frontier Airlines released the following statement:

“As flight 4345 was departing this evening from Denver International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport, the aircraft reportedly struck a pedestrian on the runway during takeoff. Smoke was reported in the cabin, and the pilots aborted takeoff. Passengers were then safely evacuated via slides as a matter of precaution. The Airbus A321 was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members. We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities. We are deeply saddened by this event.”

A source briefed on the incident told ABC News that airport security was inspecting the east perimeter fence on Saturday morning for gaps, and the person struck did not appear to be connected to the work occurring on a parallel runway.

The Denver airport later confirmed the person impacted by the jet is not believed to be an employee of the airport, nor have they been identified.

Local law enforcement handles airport security and is investigating the breach with support from the Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration, Duffy said.

“Emergency response and investigation are ongoing,” the Denver International Airport said earlier. “The NTSB has been notified. Runway 17L will remain closed while the investigation is conducted.”

ABC News contributed to this report.