New footage shows person hit by Frontier Airlines plane bound for Los Angeles

Newly released airport security footage shows the moment a person was hit and killed by a passenger jet at the Denver International Airport on May 8 as the plane was taking off for Los Angeles.

Thermal imaging from the tape shows the person jump a nearby fence and walk directly into the path on the oncoming Frontier Airlines plane at 11:19 p.m., KDVR reports. The crash started a fire in one of the plane’s engines, forcing Frontier Flight 4345 passengers to perform an emergency evacuation on the runway.

A first responder radioed in a gruesome description of the scene, as heard in a recording from the audio streaming platform Broadcastify.

“Runway 17L is closed,” the first responder is heard saying in the audio recording. “I do have limbs on the runway. I believe the aircraft struck an individual.”
A still form security footage of a person hit and killed by a plane on the runway at the Denver International Airport on May 8, 2026. (KTLA)
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated on social media that the person was trespassing on airport property.

“No one should EVER trespass on an airport,” Duffy wrote.

Officials said that 12 passengers suffered minor injuries in the crash and five were taken to the hospital. The identity of the person killed in the crash has not been released at this time.

The Denver Police Department, the FAA and the Transportation Security Administration are all investigating the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board said it is still deciding if the crash meets the criteria for a formal investigation. The NTSB said Sunday that it is gathering information about the evacuation of the plane.

Watch footage leading up to the moment the person was hit in the video player above.

A chilling 119-second surveillance video has surfaced from Denver International Airport (DIA), capturing the final moments of a trespasser who scaled a perimeter fence and casually walked onto an active runway — directly into the path of a accelerating Frontier Airlines Airbus A321. The incident, which occurred late Friday night on May 8, 2026, ended in tragedy and has sparked serious concerns about airport security.

The thermal imaging footage, released by airport authorities, shows the individual moving unhurriedly across Runway 17L just before Frontier Flight 4345, bound for Los Angeles, reached high takeoff speeds. The Airbus A321 was accelerating toward rotation speed — estimated near 140 mph — when the collision occurred around 11:19 p.m. MT.

Watch dramatic footage and passenger videos:

Dramatic video of the incident and aftermath
ATC audio and passenger accounts are widely available on major news channels.

What Happened: A Timeline of Seconds

According to official statements from Denver International Airport and Frontier Airlines, the unidentified person jumped the airport’s perimeter fence and entered the secure airfield. Roughly two minutes later, while crossing the runway, he was struck by the departing jet.

The pilot of Flight 4345 immediately reported the horrifying event over the radio:

“Tower, Frontier 4345, we’re stopping on the runway. Uh, we just hit somebody… we have an engine fire.”

The impact severely damaged the right engine, causing a brief but intense fire and filling the cabin with smoke. Passengers described panic, screaming, and the terrifying sight of flames outside the window. The crew executed a high-speed rejected takeoff (RTO) and safely evacuated all 224 passengers and 7 crew members via emergency slides. Twelve people sustained minor injuries during the evacuation.

The Terrifying Detail Shocking Investigators

While the runway breach itself is alarming, investigators and seasoned airport staff are particularly disturbed by how the person was partially ingested by the jet engine. The high-speed impact caused the individual to be pulled into the engine intake, leading to significant damage, foreign object debris (FOD), and the fire. This gruesome outcome highlights the immense power and suction force of modern turbofan engines even at takeoff thrust.

Aviation experts note that jet engines can ingest large objects with catastrophic results. In this case, the damage was severe enough to force an immediate abort and evacuation, yet the crew handled the emergency professionally. The fact that a single person could so quickly reach an active runway at one of America’s busiest and most modern airports has raised red flags about perimeter security protocols, response times, and detection systems across large facilities like DIA, which spans 53 square miles.

Aviation safety expert Randy Klatt explained that even with immediate detection, the vast size of the airport makes rapid intervention extremely difficult once a plane is already rolling at high speed.

Passenger Accounts: Chaos Inside the Cabin

Passengers recounted the horror:

Smoke rapidly filled the cabin.
People screamed and tried to stay calm.
One passenger saw flames engulfing the right engine and feared the worst.

The evacuation onto the runway left many without belongings in the cold night, waiting for buses back to the terminal. Multiple videos from inside the plane show the dramatic slides and emergency response.

Investigation Underway

The Denver Police Department, FAA, TSA, and possibly the NTSB are investigating. Key questions include:

How the individual breached the perimeter undetected long enough to reach the runway.
Whether this was a deliberate act (some observers suggest the calm walk may indicate suicide).
Broader implications for airport security standards nationwide.

The runway remained closed for hours, causing flight disruptions. Frontier Airlines expressed condolences and cooperated fully with authorities.

Broader Implications for Aviation Safety

This rare but devastating incident underscores vulnerabilities in airport perimeters despite advanced fencing, cameras, and patrols. Similar runway incursions have occurred in the past, but a fatal pedestrian strike during takeoff is exceptionally uncommon in the U.S.

The event has reignited discussions about balancing security with operational efficiency at major hubs. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and airport officials have emphasized that trespassing on active runways is extremely dangerous and illegal.

As the investigation continues, the 119-second video serves as a sobering reminder of how quickly a calm walk across forbidden ground can turn tragic — endangering not only the intruder but hundreds of passengers and crew relying on split-second decisions from pilots and ground teams.

The victim’s identity has not been publicly released pending family notification. All those on board the Frontier flight are grateful to be alive, but the images and sounds from that night will linger for everyone involved.