The National Transportation Safety Board on Sunday said it is gathering information about the evacuation of a Frontier Airlines and killed a person on the runway at Denver International Airport during takeoff.
The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, 鈥渞eported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday,鈥� according to a post on the airport鈥檚 official X account.
Passengers were evacuated via slides, and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal. An airport spokesperson said 12 passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to hospitals.
Some people on board expressed concern about the evacuation, including being stuck in the plane for several minutes as smoke filled the cabin and left on the tarmac in the cold once they were out. Video also showed some passengers coming down the slide with what looked to be their carry-on bags.
鈥淲e are gathering information about the emergency evacuation to determine if it meets criteria for a safety investigation,鈥� NTSB spokesperson Sarah Taylor Sulick said early Sunday, adding that the agency might have more details in a few hours.
Frontier Airlines didn鈥檛 respond early Sunday to a request for information about the evacuation.
A spokesman for the Denver Police Departmet said Sunday the investigation into the incident was ongoing and that the identification of the person on the runway will be confirmed and released by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner.
The person was hit two minutes after jumping the fence and crossing the runway. The person is not believed to be an airport employee.
鈥淲e鈥檙e stopping on the runway,鈥� the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com. 鈥淲e just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.鈥�
The pilot tells the air traffic controller they have 鈥�231 souls鈥� on board and that an 鈥渋ndividual was walking across the runway.鈥�
The air traffic controller responds that they are 鈥渞olling the trucks now鈥� before the pilot tells the tower they 鈥渉ave smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.鈥�
Frontier Airlines said in a statement that flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that 鈥渟moke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.鈥� It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the collision.
The airline said the plane was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members.
鈥淲e are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities,鈥� the airline said.
Passengers said panic took hold on the flight after an engine caught fire and the cabin began filling with smoke.
鈥淗onestly, I thought I was going to die,鈥� passenger Mohamed Hassan told Colorado鈥檚 9NEWS.
鈥淎 lot of people next to me were screaming and crying. I just closed my eyes,鈥� he said. “At that time, you鈥檙e not really thinking of anything, you know? Because we were just about to take off and I heard that boom, so I wasn鈥檛 sure what happened. I just thought something really, really bad happened.鈥�
Passenger Nikil Thalanki told local media outlets that he felt 鈥渢his jerk鈥� as the plane was about to take off, adding that it felt like the wheels had left the ground but then came back down.
鈥淭here was fire on the engine. There was lots of sparks that are happening. Immediately came to a stop,鈥� Thalanki said. “As soon as we saw the sparks on the flight, smoke filled the cabin completely. It was super hard to breathe.鈥�
Kimberly Randle said passengers were panicking and desperate to get off the aircraft.
鈥淚n a few minutes, they finally opened the door. People were running to get out of the plane,” he said. “It was chaos everywhere.鈥�
The NTSB has for years expressed concerned about evacuations, especially passengers leaving with their carry-ons. In an April report on the evacuation aboard a United Airlines flight at Houston鈥檚 George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the NTSB described a troubling scene.
Passengers were and stairs last year from the jetliner after an engine problem during takeoff caused smoke and fire on the right wing.
Despite the flight attendant telling passengers to remain seated, several began shouting, 鈥渇ire on the engine, let me get out!鈥� That trigged 鈥渨idespread panic” and prompted many passengers to get up and start retrieving their belongings. Some climbed over seats and began obstructing the aisle.
Three large men insisted the evacuation occur, pushing past a flight attendant and going down a slide before it had fully deployed 鈥� causing it to deflate and become unusable.
鈥淐abin crew training emphasizes assertive command presence and passenger control during evacuations; however, this event demonstrates how rapidly escalating passenger behavior can affect evacuation dynamics even in the absence of confirmed fire or smoke conditions,鈥� according to the report.
The incident in Denver came a day after a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while on the job at the Orlando International Airport. In a statement, the airline said the employee was killed Thursday night without providing details of the incident or the name of the employee.
鈥淲e are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time,鈥� the airline said. 鈥淲e are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred.鈥�
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AP reporter John Raby contributed from Charleston, West Virginia.
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