Officials have identified the person who was fatally struck on a Denver airport runway Friday as 41-year-old Michael Mott, who is believed to have died by suicide, according to the Medical Examiner for the City and County of Denver.
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The cause of death was determined to be multiple blunt and sharp force injuries, Chief Medical Examiner Sterling McLaren said at a news briefing Tuesday morning.
The collision happened at 11:19 p.m. Friday local time as the Frontier Airlines aircraft was accelerating to take off at Denver International Airport for a scheduled flight to Los Angeles International Airport.
Black-and-white security video released by airport officials shows a figure approaching the runway and starting to cross it at walking pace. The Airbus A321 then sweeps in from the left as the person vanishes and one of the plane’s engines catches fire.
Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington said that an alarm went off at around 11:10 p.m. Friday and an operator on duty “reviewed the alarm and identified a herd of deer just outside of the perimeter fence.”
“They did not initially see the trespasser,” Washington said. “The camera view was alternating between the wildlife and the individual. There are some ditches in the area, so the person was out of view for a bit as well.” Washington also mentioned that there is a “gulch,” or ravine, between the fence line and the runway, which the airport is working to ensure it has a line of sight on.
Minutes later, Washington said, the airport was alerted by the Federal Aviation Administration that a person had been struck.
“It took approximately 15 seconds for this person to jump over the 8-foot fence topped with barbed wire,” Washington said. “The time between climbing over the fence and being struck by the plane, again, was approximately two minutes. The location of the incident is about two miles away from the terminal — given the short time period, we were not able to intervene and prevent this person from reaching the runway.”
While the incident has since been determined to be a suicide, a note has not been found at the scene, officials said, and none of Mott’s belongings, including a vehicle, have been located by law enforcement yet. Mott “has had some law enforcement contact” in the Denver metropolitan area, according to Washington.
Washington said safety is a top priority for Denver International Airport, adding that it has 36 miles of fence across 53 square miles of airport property.
“Since this incident, we have been asked, ‘Why don’t you electrify the fence, or ‘Why isn’t the fence tall?’ or ‘Why don’t you use razor wire instead of barbed wire?’” Washington said. “Safety and security, again, is always our top priority. 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, that is why we have many layers of security.”
The airport will conduct a review to better understand the incident and how it happened, Washington said. The airport has had fence-jumpers before, but they were apprehended quite quickly, he added.
Twelve people aboard the plane were injured in the incident as a result of the evacuation, officials said.
Washington lauded the actions of the pilot and crew of the aircraft for their professionalism, adding that the incident “could have been far worse.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said it will not investigate the incident, citing that it is outside the board’s purview and will be left to local law enforcement.
“We are collecting information about the subsequent emergency evacuation to determine if it meets the criteria for an NTSB investigation,” the NTSB said.
The Denver Police Department is continuing to investigate this incident and is asking anyone who knew Mott to contact them.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
