Man struck on ground by plane in Denver died by suicide, officials say
May 12 (UPI) -- A man fatally struck by a Frontier Airlines aircraft on Friday at Denver International Airport died by suicide, a medical examiner said.
Michael Mott, 41, was walking across a runway at 11:19 a.m. Friday as the aircraft was accelerating to take off for a flight to Los Angeles. He died from multiple blunt and sharp force injuries caused by the plane's engine, Dr. Sterling McLaren, the Denver chief medical examiner, said Tuesday at a press conference at the airport, the Denver Post reported.
"As a scientific investigation, we can't really know, really, what someone's intent was," McLaren said. "The best way to determine manner is to evaluate the totality of the investigation - scene findings, circumstances and history. Based on all of those findings together, we determined the manner of death to be suicide."
One of the plane's engines caught fire in the incident, creating a large debris field. Twelve people of the 231 on the plane sustained minor injuries in an evacuation.
Security alarms inside the fence were thought to be caused by a herd of deer near the fence, airport CEO Phil Washington said, according to NBC News. Cameras kept switching between the human intruder and the wildlife, and ditches in the area also may have interfered with the view, Washington said.
"It took approximately 15 seconds for this person to jump over the 8-foot fence topped with barbed wire," he said. "The time between climbing over the fence and being struck by the plane 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."
Washington said the airport will conduct a review to better understand how the breach and accident occurred. The Denver Police Department is also investigating, and the National Transportation Safety Board said that it will leave the case to local law enforcement at this time, NBC News reported.
Tom Foley, an associate professor and program coordinator for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's global security and intelligence studies department, told the Denver Post that reports do not show a security failure at the airport.
"It sounds like somebody managed to get past the gate and they got hit by a plane before anyone could get to them," he said.
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, help is available 24/7. Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for free, confidential support. Globally, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has contact information for crisis centers around the world.
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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 5:24 PM.