Pilot made chilling warning to passengers after man sucked into jet engine going 139mph
A Denver International Airport pilot issued a warning to passengers after a man was sucked into the engine of a Los Angeles-bound plane which was travelling at 139mph.
Trespasser Michael Mott, 41, climbed the eight-foot fence and ran onto the tarmac on Friday (8 May), where he stayed for a total of just two minutes before he was sucked up into the Frontier Airlines' engine, Denver International Airport chief executive officer Phil Washington said Tuesday (12 May).
The jet engine dismembered his body, scattering his remains across the runway.
The engine soon caught fire, with 12 people suffering minor injuries, and five were taken to the hospital, according to an airport spokesperson.
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All 224 passengers and seven crew members on the plane were safely evacuated via slides.
A chilling warning from the plane's pilot
The aircraft's pilot was forced to alert the passengers on board as to what had happened, saying: "I do have limbs on the runway. I believe the aircraft struck an individual.
"There appear to be human remains on the runway."
The airport has since released a black-and-white video showing, from a distance, a figure walking toward the runway with arms swaying.
The individual then crosses onto the runway at a slight angle, and mere seconds later, the plane is seen speeding past.
The aircraft appears to strike the person with its right engine, which bursts into flame upon impact.
Michael Mott's cause of death revealed
Mott's cause of death was determined to be multiple blunt and sharp force injuries, officials said yesterday. They also said his manner of death has been ruled as a suicide.
The New York Post reports that Mott had been arrested over 20 times in Colorado dating back to 2002, including for attempted murder.
Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas confirmed during a news conference yesterday that a suicide note had not been recovered.
"We currently are looking for any notes, computers, anything like that, trying to identify places where he most recently was," Thomas said.
Washington outlined that safety is the Denver International Airport's number one priority.
He added that an investigation into Mott’s death is ongoing and 'we will do our best to make sure that the improvements that we need to make are made very, very quickly'.
Meanwhile, ABC reports that the National Transportation Safety Board said it is gathering information about the plane's evacuation.
An agency spokesperson said an investigation would begin if the injuries are found to meet the agency’s threshold for 'serious'.
That includes cases where someone is hospitalised for more than 48 hours, suffers a broken bone, or receives second or third-degree burns covering more than 5% of their body.
Tyla has reached out to Denver International Airport and Frontier Airlines for further comment.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
Rhiannon Ingle