A Frontier Airlines jet struck and killed a pedestrian on the runway Friday night during a planned takeoff to Los Angeles, Denver International Airport said in a statement.
A Border flight reportedly hit a person on takeoff and aborted the takeoff. The pedestrian, who has not yet been identified, jumped the fence and was struck two minutes later while crossing the runway, the airport said.
The statement said the person is not believed to be an airport employee.
The incident caused a brief engine fire and smoke in the cabin of the Airbus A321 flight, which was carrying 224 passengers and 7 crew members. All passengers were safely evacuated.
The airport said 12 people reported minor injuries, five of whom were taken to local hospitals.
Frontier said it is investigating the incident and coordinating with airports and other security authorities to gather more information.
The airport said the accident scene had been cleared and the runway had reopened at 10:55 a.m. local time.
The airport added that it also inspected the fence line that the person crossed and found it to be intact.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said local law enforcement was investigating the incident with support from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration.
(Reporting by Tanna, Parashuraman and Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Toby Chopra and Nick Zieminski)
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