Federal investigators are examining how a person breached the perimeter fence at Denver International Airport and was struck and killed by a Frontier Airlines jet during takeoff Friday night, raising serious questions about airport security, according to an aviation safety analyst.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Denver Police are all investigating the incident involving Frontier Flight 4345, which was bound for Los Angeles. DIA confirmed it is responsible for perimeter security under FAA and TSA regulations.
Greg Feith, an aviation and safety analyst for 9NEWS, said the breach itself is highly unusual.
“These are rare events when you have someone breaching the operational side of an airport, especially an international airport,” Feith said. “Given the security that we all go through as a passenger, that same security really exists in the operational area that is within the perimeter fence.”
Feith said investigators will be focused on several key questions, starting with how the person managed to get onto the airfield.
“The biggest question with this particular event is how did this person breach that operational area, getting over a 12-foot fence with razor wire,” he said.
Beyond the physical breach, Feith said investigators will also be looking at what motivated the person to attempt it.
“Were they intoxicated? Did they have some sort of mental issue? Was this an intentional act?” Feith said. “There are going to be a lot of questions on the operational side as far as DIA and their security, because typically you will have perimeter security, the operations folks will do an operational sweep.”
Feith said the sheer size of DIA complicates those security efforts.
“One of the biggest issues is how vast it is,” he said. “There are miles and miles of fence and property — very obscure places, places that nobody expects to see on a regular basis.”
He added that investigators will also want to know how often the airport sweeps the perimeter looking for breaches, and whether any security cameras captured the trespasser.
For the 224 passengers on board, the incident was terrifying. Twelve people reported minor injuries, and five were taken to the hospital.
Passenger Kimberly Randall described the moments after impact.
“It was a horrific moment,” she said. “Like a terrifying moment in my life.”
Feith said the passenger response during the evacuation will also be closely examined by the NTSB.
“People go into panic mode,” he said. “If you don’t maintain your composure, that’s when injuries happen. That’s when the evacuation process slows down. That’s when all of a sudden now something that was more of a benign event turns into a catastrophic event.”
As for potential solutions, Feith pointed to surveillance along fence lines as one possibility.
“Airports don’t typically have closed-circuit TVs monitoring fence lines,” he said. “Maybe they need to go to that kind of thing.”
Feith said he expects the investigation to move quickly.
“I think this will be a very quick investigation — probably within a week or two, we should have some very good information from the NTSB, the FAA, and even Denver International,” he said.
The runway where the incident occurred reopened at around 11 a.m. Saturday.