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Recently released surveillance video captures a distressing scene as a Frontier Airlines plane tragically collided with a person trespassing on the runway at Denver International Airport late Friday night.
The footage, featuring thermal imaging obtained by KDVR, reveals an unidentified individual climbing over a perimeter fence and walking directly into the aircraft’s path.
“The intruder on the runway was struck by Frontier Airlines Flight 4345 during its high-speed takeoff attempt. The pilot immediately halted the takeoff procedures,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy shared in a statement on social media platform X.
This unsettling incident took place at approximately 11:19 p.m. while the aircraft was preparing for takeoff, resulting in a brief engine fire that was quickly extinguished by airport authorities, according to an official post from the airport on X.
Thermal imaging from the video shows the unidentified individual scaling a fence before stepping onto the runway in the path of the Frontier plane 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.Â
“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.Â
“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.Â
Denver International Airport later posted an update to X adding it “has examined the fenceline and found it to be intact.”
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.Â
The incident is under investigation by the NTSB, FAA and Frontier Airlines.Â