Shocking audio captured the bewildered moments pilots aboard Frontier Flight 4345 smashed into a pedestrian who had run into its path – leaving “limbs” scattered on the runway.
“Tower, Frontier 4345, we’re stopping on the runway. Uh, we just hit somebody… we have an engine fire,” the pilot said, according to air traffic control audio.
“I do have limbs on the runway. I believe the aircraft struck an individual,” the airport staff continued, adding later: “There appear to be human remains on the runway.”
The unidentified person had jumped the perimeter fence and was crossing the runway when they were hit by the moving plane at 11:19 p.m., Denver International Airport confirmed.
The person was at least partially sucked into one of the engines of the Airbus A321neo, which ignited the brief engine fire, ABC News reported, citing sources.
The plane was moving at 139 mph at the time of the crash, according to FlightAware.
Photos showed passengers sliding down an inflatable ramp and wrapped in blankets, standing near the blood-soaked engine.
The deceased was not an employee at the airport, according to Denver International, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the individual as a “trespasser.”
“Late last night, a trespasser breached airport security at Denver Int’l Airport, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence, and ran out onto a runway,” Duffy said on X.
“No one should EVER trespass on an airport.”
An inspection by the airport noted that the perimeter fence did not have punctures.
The flight, with 224 passengers and seven crew members, was headed to Los Angeles.
Twelve people reported minor injuries and five of those were taken to local hospitals, Denver Airport reported.
Most of the stranded passengers were bused back to the terminal and placed on a rescheduled flight.
