Federal investigators were collecting information Sunday about the emergency evacuation of a Frontier Airlines flight that struck and killed a pedestrian on a runway at Denver International Airport late Friday night.
The pedestrian, who has not yet been publicly identified, jumped the Denver airport’s perimeter fence and walked onto a runway, . Frontier flight 4345 hit the pedestrian during takeoff just minutes later, at approximately 11:19 p.m. Friday.
“We have not yet launched an investigation into the emergency evacuation,” NTSB spokesperson Sarah Taylor Sulick said in an email to The Denver Post on Sunday. “We are waiting for more information about the injuries sustained by some passengers to determine if it meets the criteria for an investigation.”
NTSB teams investigate civil aviation accidents with “substantial damage to an aircraft” or “serious injuries,” Sulick said.
A “serious injury” is as one that requires hospitalization for more than 48 hours within seven days of the incident or involves bone fractures, internal organ damage, second- or third-degree burns, severe hemorrhages or nerve, muscle and tissue damage.
Airline officials said 224 passengers and seven crew members were evacuated from the Los Angeles-bound flight. Of the 231 people on board, 12 reported minor injuries and paramedics took five of those to local hospitals, according to airport officials. Additional information about the nature of their injuries was not available.
“We know there are questions to be answered still,” said in a statement Sunday.
Airport officials are coordinating with law enforcement to confirm information about the crash and determine what can be shared, Washington said.
“This was a horrible and preventable tragedy that has affected many due to the actions of one person who apparently trespassed at an airport and lost their life as a result,” Washington stated. “Safety is paramount in everything we do in aviation, and at DEN, we want to make sure we have all the facts before information is released.”
No updates on the injured passengers’ conditions and whether they were injured by the engine fire or the evacuation process were available on Sunday.
A spokesperson for Frontier Airlines said NTSB investigations into airline incidents are “standard practice” and that the airline “will welcome and fully cooperate with any potential investigation.”
“We’re stopping on the runway,” the Frontier pilot can be heard telling the tower in an air traffic control recording on ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
The air traffic controller responded that they were “rolling the trucks” before the pilot told the tower about “smoke in the aircraft” and plans to evacuate passengers onto the runway.
Some people on board expressed concern about the evacuation, including being stuck in the plane for several minutes as smoke filled the cabin and being left on the tarmac in the cold once they were out. Videos posted to social media also showed passengers coming down the emergency slide with what looked to be their carry-on bags and backpacks.
“As we were lifting off, the engine of the plane exploded. There was so much smoke we couldn’t even see 1 ft in front of us,” passenger Jacob Athens wrote in a Facebook post, adding that passengers had to wait for more than an hour on the runway.
Nikil Thalanki that he felt “this jerk” as the plane was about to take off, adding that it felt like the wheels had left the ground but then came back down.
“There was fire on the engine. There was lots of sparks that are happening. Immediately came to a stop,” Thalanki said. “As soon as we saw the sparks on the flight, smoke filled the cabin completely. It was super hard to breathe.”
Kimberly Randle said passengers were panicking and desperate to get off the aircraft.
“In a few minutes, they finally opened the door. People were running to get out of the plane,” he said. “It was chaos everywhere.”
The pedestrian killed in the crash will be identified by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner. The only detail released about the pedestrian’s identity as of Sunday was that investigators do not believe the person worked for the airport.
The NTSB has for years expressed concern about evacuations, especially passengers leaving with their carry-ons. In an April report on the evacuation aboard a United Airlines flight at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the NTSB described a troubling scene.
Passengers 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, “fire on the engine, let me get out!” That triggered “widespread 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 — causing it to deflate and become unusable.
“Cabin 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,” 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.
“We are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time,” the airline said. “We are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
