As Plane Readied for Takeoff, a Spark, Then a Boom

A Frontier Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles aborted its takeoff from Denver on Friday evening after the jet fatally hit a person on the runway, officials said. Frontier and Denver International Airport say that Flight 4345, an Airbus A321 carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members, struck an individual who was on the runway shortly after 11:15pm, reports CBS News. Airport officials say the person appeared to have jumped a perimeter fence just minutes before the accident, per USA Today. Both CBS and ABC7 report that the pedestrian was killed, with one official telling the latter that the victim was partially sucked in by one of the engines.

One passenger tells CBS that he saw a spark and then what he described as an explosion in the wing and engine area, followed by dense smoke and passengers yelling. The pilots halted the plane's takeoff, with smoke reported in the cabin. "We just hit somebody," the pilot can be heard telling air traffic controllers, per CBS, which notes that images shared by a passenger appeared to show blood on one of the jet's engines. As a precaution, passengers evacuated using emergency slides, and passengers were then taken by bus back to the terminal. The airport noted that a dozen or so people were said to have minor injuries, with five brought to nearby hospitals for treatment.

Denver Fire Department crews, meanwhile, responded and extinguished what the airport described as a "brief engine fire." The flight to Los Angeles International Airport was rescheduled for Saturday morning, per CBS Los Angeles. The airline, which said in a statement that it's "deeply saddened" by the incident, noted that it's investigating, per ABC7. The National Transportation Safety Board has also been given a heads-up. The runway where the collision occurred, 17L, has been shut down for now, per the airport.