A Frontier Airlines Airbus A321 was about to depart from Denver Airport. After the collision a fire started
A plane from the low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines interrupted takeoff in the late evening of Friday 8 May at Denver International Airport after hitting a person who was on the runway, in an accident that also caused a fire in one of the engines and the slight injury of at least one passenger. According to reports from the US airport, flight 4345 reported having “hit a pedestrian during take-off” around 11.19pm local time (7.19am on 9 May in Italy). According to the broadcaster ABC Newswhich cites an anonymous official, the person hit would have been at least partially sucked into one of the plane’s engines. His condition was not disclosed. Immediately after the impact, a brief fire broke out in an engine, which was quickly put out by the airport firefighters.
“smoking in the cabin”
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In an audio of communications with the control tower, released by the site Atc.comone of the pilots states: “We are stopping on the runway, we just hit someone, there is an engine fire. There was a person walking on the runway.” Rescuers intervened immediately and the 224 passengers and seven crew members were brought back to the terminal on buses. Frontier Airlines said the Airbus A321 was about to take off for Los Angeles International Airport when the accident occurred. “Smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff. Subsequently, passengers were safely evacuated via emergency slides as a precaution,” the company said in a statement, adding that it was “deeply shocked” by the incident. The National Transportation Safety Board, the national aviation safety agency, was informed and launched an investigation to clarify how a person managed to access the runway in a high security area. The airport announced that runway 17L will remain closed until the investigation is complete.
