We can only hope that he felt no pain.
On Friday, May 8, a Frontier Airlines plane bound for Los Angeles struck a pedestrian on the runway at Denver International Airport during takeoff. It was the latest shocking moment involving a passenger plane.
Earlier this month, a United Airlines Boeing 767 passenger jet struck a bakery delivery truck and a light pole while landing at Newark Liberty International Airport. The plane’s landing gear and underside clipped a bakery truck driving on the New Jersey Turnpike, while a wing hit a light pole, which then fell onto a Jeep.
That was minor compared to what happened at Denver International Airport.
New Thermal Video Shows an Unknown Person Being Killed By a Frontier Airlines Jet
Passengers on a Frontier Airlines plane were forced to evacuate after the aircraft struck a person during takeoff. Flight 4345 “struck a pedestrian on the runway” while taking off. There were 224 passengers and seven crew members on board at the time.
“Smoke was reported in the cabin, and the pilots aborted takeoff,” the airline said. “Passengers were then safely evacuated via slides as a matter of precaution.”
Over the weekend, thermal video showed the moment the plane struck a person. However, the footage stopped right before the collision. On Monday, the entire video surfaced, showing the impact, an explosion, and fire on the runway.
Michigan resident Chloe Kuns told PEOPLE she was seated on board Frontier flight 4353 when the aircraft experienced a “big Impact.” She was seated with her one-year-old daughter in her lap. Kuns says the incident could have been much worse for the passengers without the pilots’ quick actions.
“My husband flies planes, and he has explained this a lot to me to kind of help me be reassured, but we were 15 knots away from the point you’re taking off no matter what,” she says of the aircraft’s speed. “That’s seconds. This pilot thought so fast, and it could have been so much worse.”
The runway will remain closed amid an ongoing investigation into the incident.
