Frontier Airlines plane hits person on runway during takeoff at Denver airport

A Frontier Airlines plane hit a person on the runway of Denver ’s international airport during takeoff, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate, authorities said. The plane, headed to Los Angeles, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff” at about 11.19pm on Friday, the Denver airport’s official X account wrote . Neither the airport nor the airline has disclosed the person’s condition. “We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot of the plane involved told the control tower at one point, according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.” The pilot told the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board – and that an “individual was walking across the runway”. The air traffic controller responded that they were “rolling the trucks now” before the pilot told the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft”. “We are going to evacuate on the runway,” the pilot added. Frontier Airlines said in a statement that flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision – and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff”. It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the person. The plane, an Airbus A321, “was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members”, the airline said. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.” Passengers were then evacuated using slides, and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal. …