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Newly released surveillance footage shows the harrowing moment a Frontier Airlines jet struck and killed an individual who was loitering on the runway at Denver International Airport late Friday night.
Thermal imaging on the clip obtained by KDVR shows the unidentified person scale a perimeter fence before walking directly into the airplane’s path.
“The trespasser on the runway was then struck by Frontier Airlines Flight 4345 during takeoff at high speed. The pilot stopped takeoff procedures immediately,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote in a post on X.
The incident occurred around 11:19 p.m. as the plane was attempting to take off and caused a brief engine fire that was subsequently extinguished by authorities, the airport said in an X post.
AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT CATCHES FIRE IN DENVER
Thermal imaging shows an unidentified person scaling a perimeter fence before walking into the path of a Frontier airplane at Denver International Airport on May 8, 2026. (KDVR)
Radio traffic recordings obtained by KDVR reveal the chilling description from first responders in the aftermath of the collision.
“Runway 17L is closed,” a first responder reportedly said. “I do have limbs on the runway. I believe the aircraft struck an individual.”
The individual was “at least partially consumed” by one of the plane’s engines, ABC News reported.
Thermal imaging shows an unidentified person scaling a perimeter fence and walking into the path of a Frontier airplane at Denver International Airport on May 8, 2026. (KDVR)
Officials said 12 people were hurt and five were transported to a local hospital with injuries from the crash. Authorities have not yet revealed the identity of the individual struck by the aircraft.
“As far as security protocols, our security teams and Denver Police regularly patrol the perimeter of the airport. The person scaled the barbed-wire fence and was hit within two minutes,” a Denver Airport spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Denver International Airport later posted an update to X adding it “has examined the fenceline and found it to be intact.”
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A Frontier Airlines Airbus A320 taxis to a gate at Denver International Airport on March 23, 2026, in Colorado. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
“We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved,” the statement concluded.
The incident is under investigation by the NTSB, FAA and Frontier Airlines.
Fox News Digital’s Jesse Watson and Robert McGreevy contributed to this report.