Frontier plane hits trespasser at Denver

Those familiar with DIA know that the runways are not easily accessible from any streets, roads etc. They are more or less in the boonies. The airport is huge from a land standpoint. Lots of open space around all the runways. This person had to go well out of their way to get on a runway at DIA, you wouldn't accidently stumble on one. To be walking down the middle of an active runway is even more bazar.
I've been out there when I worked at Frontier Airlines and got a tour of the maintenance facility. There's a sod farm and not much else out there. DIA's land area according to the news is large enough that supposedly Chicago O'Hare, JFK, Newark and one other airport could all fit inside. It's very strange.
 
What kind of inspection is required on the engine? That seems like a huge amount of stress in the rotating assembly being forced into the role of bean grinder.
It will be a removal and full teardown. A lot of it will get scrapped. One of my coworkers was involved in a human ingestion teardown in Atlanta a couple decades ago. I'll spare the details but he didnt spare them to me.... whatever horror you can imagine regarding a human going through a jet engine will be pretty accurate.

One of my A&P instructors actually survived being pulled into an engine. Luckily it happened before the days of high bypass turbofans. He got too close to a small turbojet on a military plane and the inlet vanes stopped him going completely in. The disruption to the engine airflow caused a compressor stall and he got shot forward about 50 ft. His shirt and work coat got ripped off him, both eardrums burst, temporarily damaged his eyes, and broke a few bones. He was in an out of the hospital for a few weeks but fully recovered. Great mechanic... I did some flying with him, he was a good, safe pilot too. Last time I saw him about 20 years ago he was in his 70's and doing well. Great guy with a good sense of humor... he always told people "If you ever get sucked into a jet engine and live to talk about it, you'll be just as goofy just as I am".
 
What kind of inspection is required on the engine? That seems like a huge amount of stress in the rotating assembly being forced into the role of bean grinder.

I’m sure Pratt is going to want it for failure analysis, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be written off. It would be like trying to salvage a windshield after colliding with a deer.
 
The subject came up and I asked about "suicide by plane" data in post 9.
How 'bout "ingested persons and property" data?
Heck, insurance companies, airlines, service branches must know.
 
Totally preventable..
Yes, but at what cost? If someone is dead set on killing themselves, it's a pretty difficult act to prevent. Look at how many people have jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. And they keep trying to come up with ways to prevent that. Yet most every year it turns into a diving contest with no winners.

Some of these big city major airports are composed of several square miles of land. (Chicago's O'Hare International Airport for example, sits on 7,627 acres of land). Most all of it is fenced. But fences can be easily breached. And it would cost a fortune to hire enough security to patrol all of it on a 24/7 basis.

I think what prevents this type of suicide is people for the most part, tend to choose less violent ways and methods to do it.
 
I've got to give it to him, he pulled it off just right. I mean if you want to get sucked into a jet engine on an active runway, 9 out of 10 people might have gotten hit by the landing gear or missed a plane moving at, IDK, 200MPH.

Regardless, I was disappointed to see passengers going down the slide with carry-ons in hand. It's an emergency dang it.

And then everyone stops in front of an exploded jet engine like a water cooler to take selfies and gawk at pureed human remains. I believe his legs didn't get ingested so they were still around there somewhere.
 
Someone apparently jumped the fence and got hit.



A lot of the reporting says “pedestrian” but I think trespasser is more descriptive.

As of an hour ago the wsj said that the passengers plan on suing Frontier. It's not like the flight crew chased some guy down a runway. However there needs to be a rule in place as many took their bags with but one lady didn't as she was told to leave everything. She had no access to baby necessities nor her insulin. She had an infant with her on the flight. Then she was stuck at DIA until put on another flight home.
 
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