The U.S. authorities confirmed on Tuesday (May 12) that last Friday a man attempted suicide by climbing over the fence at Denver International Airport but unfortunately was hit and killed by a Frontier Airlines flight that was taking off.
According to CNN, the Chief Medical Examiner in Denver, Sterling McLaren, revealed that the deceased was 41-year-old Michael Mott, and the cause of death was ruled as suicide.
Reports indicate that the Denver police are still investigating the motive behind the man’s actions. Frontier Airlines stated in a post-incident announcement that on that day, the Airbus A321 aircraft (flight number 4345) was en route from Denver to Los Angeles with 224 passengers and 7 crew members on board.
ATC.com audio recordings show that a pilot reported the plane hitting a person, causing the aircraft to stop on the runway with the engine on fire. Following the engine fire, smoke filled the cabin, leading to passengers evacuating through emergency slides, resulting in 12 injuries, 5 of which were hospitalized and 4 already discharged.
The Denver airport is surrounded by approximately 36 miles of fencing, and after the incident, inspections revealed no damage to the fence. The airport authorities stated that they are conducting an analysis of the event and reviewing the surrounding security plans.
The Denver police mentioned that near the area where Mott climbed over the fence, no cars or bicycles were found. The fence is 8 feet high (about 2.44 meters) with barbed wire and alarms installed at the top.
The airport’s official website shows that Denver Airport covers 53 square miles, larger than the city of San Francisco, and is the second-largest airport in the U.S., only behind an airport in Saudi Arabia. The airport management stated that security personnel and police patrol the airport regularly.
The airport officials disclosed that previous fence-climbing incidents have occurred at the airport before. It took Mott approximately 15 seconds to climb over the fence, and within less than two minutes of being on the other side, he was struck and killed by the plane.
Airport officials noted that as Mott approached the fence, ground sensors triggered an alarm, but initially, security personnel only saw a group of deer on the surveillance cameras and did not notice Mott.
The airport representatives emphasized that safety is always the airport’s top priority, and they do not want the fence to pose a lethal threat. However, regardless of the height of the fence, there will always be individuals attempting to climb over it, hence the airport’s implementation of multiple security measures.