Two law firms on Tuesday announced plans to sue Denver officials on behalf of passengers on board the Frontier Airlines flight that struck and killed a man on a Denver International Airport runway last week.
and served a “notice of claim” — which must be filed before any official lawsuit can be filed, — to the Denver City Attorney and the Colorado Attorney General on Tuesday, . Courtesy copies of the notice were given to Denver International Airport, the Denver Clerk and Recorder and the Denver Police Department, according to the release.
“Denver International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world, and the traveling public has every right to expect that its perimeter — the most basic line of defense in airport security — will actually function,” Ramos Law aviation attorney Joseph LoRusso said in a statement.
Michael Mott, 41, jumped the airport’s security fence late Friday night and walked onto a runway, where he was fatally hit by Frontier 4345 minutes later. The crash, which happened just before 11:20 p.m., sparked an engine fire and created a 4,000-foot debris field, DIA CEO Phil Washington said during a Tuesday morning news conference.
Mott died from blunt and sharp force injuries caused by the plane’s engine, Denver Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Sterling McLaren said. His death was ruled a suicide.
Man killed by Frontier plane at DIA died by suicide, medical examiner says
Twelve people reported minor injuries from the evacuation, and paramedics took five of those to the hospital. Four of the hospitalized passengers had been released as of Tuesday morning, Washington said, but information on their injuries was not available.
The law firms' news release described the crash as "one of the most preventable aviation incidents in recent memory" and said the passengers on board "are now confronting both physical and psychological injuries from that night."
The future lawsuit will seek more than $10 million in damages for alleged failures in the design, maintenance, monitoring and operation of the perimeter security and intrusion-detection systems, according to the law firms. It will also examine alleged "failures to timely notify air traffic control and to halt operations" after the breach, the release stated.
"We intend to find out exactly what failed, who knew about the vulnerabilities beforehand, why they were not fixed, and who knew about the breach and failed to order an immediate ground hold of all aircraft," LoRusso stated.
Denver City Attorney's Office spokesperson Melissa Sisneros said Wednesday that the office had not yet received the notice of claim. The office does not comment on pending litigation, she added.
Attorneys with the two law firms are demanding that Denver officials preserve all evidence related to the incident and perimeter security at the airport, including surveillance video, sensor data, access control logs, radio and dispatch communications, internal incident reports, training records and records of the applicable policies and procedures.
Denver International Airport, the Denver Police Department and the Colorado Attorney General's Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
The news release from Ramos Law and DJC Law did not specify which agencies and employees will be named in the lawsuit, but said the claim will be amended and supplemented with new information as the investigation into the crash continues.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
