‘We just hit somebody’: Person dies after being hit by Frontier Airlines plane taking off at Denver airport

A person who jumped a fence and was on a runway at Denver International Airport was struck and killed by a Frontier Airlines plane during takeoff.

The collision sparked an engine fire and forced passengers to evacuate the aircraft.

The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11.19 pm on Friday [Saturday AEST]”, according to a post on the airport’s official X account.

A spokesperson for the airport said the person, who jumped a perimeter fence, has died.

They said the unidentified person was hit two minutes after entering the airport. The person is not believed to be an airport employee.

“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com.