A Frontier Airlines flight departing Denver International Airport for Los Angeles appeared to strike a person on the runway Friday, an aviation source briefed on the incident told ABC News.
The Airbus A321 was taking off from runway 17L when it appeared to strike an individual walking on the runway, the source told ABC News.
The pilot quickly aborted the takeoff.
At least one passenger suffered a minor injury, according to the aviation source.
Passengers are being evaluated as standard procedure after an evacuation.
Air traffic control recordings from ATC captured the crew reporting the emergency to the tower.
“Tower, Frontier 4345, we’re stopping on the runway. Uh, we just hit somebody… we have an engine fire,” the pilot is heard on the recordings.
When asked how many people were aboard, the pilot responded, “We have 231 souls on board… There was an individual walking across the runway.”
Moments later, the pilot reported worsening conditions and the need to evacuate.
“We’ve got smoke on the aircraft, we’re gonna evacuate on the runway,” the pilot said.
Passengers were evacuated on the runway and are being bused back to the terminal, according to the aviation source.
Fire crews were dispatched to the aircraft to extinguish the engine fire.
Authorities have not released additional information about the person on the runway or the circumstances that led to the incident.
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