Person Fatally Struck by Frontier Airlines Jet at Denver Airport Is Identified

The man who was fatally struck by a jet on a runway in Denver last week made it past motion sensors and radar detectors before scaling a tall fence to reach the tarmac, officials said Tuesday.

The person, identified by the authorities as Michael Mott, 41, jumped over a perimeter fence at Denver International Airport on Friday night minutes before he was hit by a Frontier Airlines plane as it was taking off for Los Angeles, airport officials said at a news conference. He was not an airport employee, they said.

Sterling McLaren, Denver’s chief medical examiner, said that Mr. Mott’s death was ruled a suicide and that he died after being drawn into the airplane’s engine, which started a fire.

The pilots immediately aborted the takeoff after reporting the engine fire and telling air traffic controllers that there was smoke inside. The plane, with 224 passengers and seven crew members onboard, was evacuated, with passengers exiting the jet on the runway using emergency slides. The airport said that 12 people sustained minor injuries during the evacuation, with five taken to hospitals.

Phillip Washington, the airport’s chief executive, praised the actions of the pilots and crew members. “This could have been far worse,” he said on Tuesday.

Investigators sifted through about 4,000 feet of debris caused by the episode.

The authorities were still contacting Mr. Mott’s family members to learn more about him and why he did it. Investigators said they had not found any note from him outlining his rationale.

Mr. Mott’s cousin Jason Gallegos said in a statement that Mr. Mott was a great person with a big heart and that “he had so much love to give to anyone that would accept it.”

Mr. Gallegos also offered condolences to anyone affected by the incident. “There is nothing else to be said other than this is a tragic situation for all involved,” he said.

Public records showed that Mr. Mott, who appeared to live at several addresses in Colorado throughout his life, had a criminal history that included convictions for assault, trespassing, disorderly conduct and property damage. Several other charges were dismissed.

Officials on Tuesday said they were still investigating but provided some details about how Mr. Mott had breached several security layers. According to investigators, the airport has 36 miles of fence line, closed-circuit television monitoring, security patrols and a ground-based radar system to detect intruders, among other measures. Still, they said, Mr. Mott was able to jump over an eight-foot fence topped with barbed wire before he was struck by the airplane two minutes later.

The airport’s ground-detection system set off an alarm near where Mr. Mott had breached the fence, Mr. Washington said. An operator reviewed the alarm and identified a herd of deer outside the airport’s perimeter fence and did not see Mr. Mott, he added. A motion detector captured the deer and Mr. Mott. There were also ditches in the area, where Mr. Mott could have hidden from view, he said. It took Mr. Mott about 15 seconds to jump over the fence, he said.

“Given the short time period, we were not able to intervene and prevent this person from reaching the runway,” Mr. Washington said. Officials said they were reviewing their security of the perimeter.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, airport officials and local law enforcement were all investigating.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.

Sonia A. Rao and Billy Witz contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research.