Man who died after being sucked into Frontier Airlines plane engine was part of a disturbing pattern: report
Police records show at least eight trespassers have breached fences at Denver International Airport since 2023
NEED TO KNOW
- Denver International Airport has experienced six perimeter fence breaches since 2023, according to a new report
- Two of the eight trespassers had active arrest warrants at the time of their breaches, according to police records
- Experts suggest improved detection technology may explain the increase in reported trespassing incidents at the airport
The 41-year-old man who died after being ingested by a Frontier Airlines plane engine was part of a disturbing pattern of security breaches at Denver International Airport (DIA), a new report reveals.
The May 8 trespassing of Michael Mott marked the sixth breach of the facility’s perimeter fence since 2023, according to The Denver Post, citing Denver Police Department records.
One incident resulted in more than $2,000 in damage after a man crashed through a fence and drove onto the airfield. Another event involved a man who jumped the fence after crashing a car nearby. He was later found sitting on an active taxiway at around 6:40 a.m. Another fence-hopper told police he was trying to walk to Texas.
According to the report, two additional trespassing cases involved individuals jumping a boundary fence into the airport’s warehouse area. The earliest incident dates back to September 2023.
At least two of the eight trespassers had active arrest warrants at the time of their breaches. One came from a failure to appear in Denver court, while another was for motor vehicle theft, the outlet reports.
In Mott’s case, he scaled an 8-foot perimeter fence topped with barbed wire. Two minutes later, he was struck by Frontier Flight 4345 during its takeoff, DIA CEO Phil Washington revealed at a press conference on May 12. The cause of death was determined to be multiple blunt and sharp force injuries and the manner of death was ruled a suicide, according to Denver chief medical examiner Dr. Sterling McLaren.
“If somebody is really intent on getting through a fence, they’re going to get through,” Annmarie Heth, an assistant professor of aviation and aerospace science at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, told the outlet. “Fences are there to keep honest people out.”
Heth notes that while it may appear that security breaches are happening more frequently, it may only be a matter of better detection and increased reporting. “Trespassing doesn’t necessarily equal a security failure,” she said. “The fact that we’re talking about these right now often means that the system worked. The alarms were activated, the airport operations center sent out law enforcement and they responded.”
When Heth worked as an operations manager at Pensacola International Airport in Florida between 2009 and 2015, she says a gust of wind was strong enough to set off warning sensors. But now, the alarms are more sophisticated, and it’s much easier to catch fence jumpers before the worst can occur.
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“We’ve got better analytics, better technology, an improved reporting culture and better training with our airport employees,” Heth said. “I don’t think that it’s anything alarming or dramatic.”
Heth notes it’s hard to compare Denver’s breaches to facilities across the country because each airport reports trespassing incidents differently and no national databases exist.
