Federal investigators are probing a harrowing incident at Denver International Airport after a passenger jet struck and killed a person on the runway.
Frontier Airlines flight 4345 was headed to Los Angeles when it reportedly struck a pedestrian on the runway, setting off multiple events, including a smoke-filled cabin and passengers saying it “felt like an explosion” had occurred.
(Video Credit: NBC News)
“We’re going pretty fast, and I felt like the plane started to tilt up when out of nowhere, it just – we felt a thud and heard an explosion,” Frontier passenger Jose Cervantas told The National Desk. “I was right on the wing, so I looked to my right, and I see the right wing just on fire.”
Airport officials released video footage that showed someone approaching the Denver International Airport runway before being struck by the plane.
“The black-and-white security video shows a figure approaching a runway and starting to cross it, seemingly at walking pace, when the aircraft streaks into view. The narrow-body Airbus A321 sweeps in from the left as the person vanishes and one of the plane’s engines catches fire,” NBC News reported. “Frontier said smoke entered the aircraft’s cabin as the flight was aborted. The plane was carrying 224 passengers and seven crewmembers.”
Denver, Colorado: After breaching security, trespasser jumped permiter fence, ran onto the runway and was struck by a Frontier Airlines plane during takeoff. Trespasser killed, least 12 reported injuries, 5 passengers hospitalized. Investigation ongoing. pic.twitter.com/FqJVSNFqwp
— Josh Ryan 🍁 (@joshryanjames) May 9, 2026
“We immediately came back down, and there was fire on the engine,” Nikil Thalanki, a passenger, told KUSA. “Smoke filled the cabin, completely. It was super hard to breathe.”
“Honestly, I thought I was going to die,” passenger Mohamed Hassan told Colorado’s 9NEWS.
“A lot of people next to me were screaming and crying. I just closed my eyes,” he added. “At that time, you’re not really thinking of anything, you know? Because we were just about to take off, and I heard that boom, so I wasn’t sure what happened. I just thought something really, really bad happened.”
Insane video of a passengers on the Frontier Airlines jet that hit and killed a person walking on the runway being emergency evacuated from the plane in Denver Colorado last night! pic.twitter.com/HggdYpuvev
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) May 9, 2026
“We are gathering information about the emergency evacuation to determine if it meets criteria for a safety investigation,” NTSB spokesperson Sarah Taylor Sulick said on Sunday.
“As this is an active investigation with numerous other agencies involved, it is going to take some time as we are still confirming what information we can share at this time,” Phillip Washington, CEO of Denver International Airport, said in a statement. “This was a horrible and preventable tragedy that has affected many due to the actions of one person who apparently trespassed at an airport and lost their life as a result.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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