The man who was struck and killed by a Frontier Airlines jet after he jumped a fringe fence at Denver International Airport intended to kill himself, officials confirmed Tuesday.
The man was recognized as 41-year-old Michael Mott, in accordance to Sterling McLaren, Denver’s chief medical expert. The method of loss of life was dominated a suicide. Denver police are persevering with to examine his motivations.
Frontier Flight 4345, an Airbus A321, was departing Denver en route to Los Angeles on Friday and carried 224 passengers and 7 crew members, the airline mentioned in a press release at the time.
“We’re stopping on the runway,” a pilot mentioned, in accordance to audio from ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
Twelve individuals had been injured after smoke stuffed the cabin and passengers had to evacuate on emergency slides. Five had been taken to the hospital for accidents, and 4 have already been launched.
There are about 36 miles of perimeter fence surrounding the airport. An inspection after the incident discovered the fence was intact, however the airport mentioned it’s performing an “incident analysis and review its perimeter security program.”
No vehicles or bikes had been discovered close to the world the place Mott jumped the fence, Denver Chief of Police Ron Thomas mentioned. The fence is 8 toes tall and topped with barbed wire and alarmed.
At 53 sq. miles, the airport is bigger than town of San Francisco, according to its website.
Phil Washington, Denver International Airport CEO, mentioned the airport is the second largest airport by land mass, second solely to an airport in Saudi Arabia, and safety officers and Denver police patrol the airfield often. He mentioned the airport has seen fence jumpers earlier than.
He mentioned it took roughly 15 seconds for Mott to leap the fence. Within two minutes he was struck and killed. Ground detection sensors set off an alarm when he approached the fence, however safety noticed a herd of deer on cameras and didn’t initially see him, airport officials mentioned.
“Safety and security, again, is always our top priority,” Washington mentioned. “We don’t want our fence to be deadly, and even if the fence was taller, we believe a motivated individual could find a way to penetrate it. That is why we have many layers of security.”
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will be reached by dialing 988. It offers free and confidential help 24 hours a day, seven days per week for individuals in suicidal disaster or misery, or for many who are serving to an individual in disaster.