- Lawyers filed a $10 million claim against Denver for a fatal runway security breach.
- A trespasser entered the airfield, causing a high-speed collision during a Frontier Airlines takeoff.
- The lawsuit alleges failures in perimeter monitoring and slow emergency response times during the incident.
(DENVER, COLORADO) – DJC Law, PLLC filed a Notice of Claim on May 14, 2026, seeking damages exceeding $10 million against the City and County of Denver after a fatal runway incident involving Frontier Airlines Flight 4345 at Denver International Airport.
The Austin, Texas-based firm said it represents passengers aboard Frontier Airlines Flight 4345, an Airbus A321 bound for Los Angeles International Airport, after the aircraft struck a man during takeoff on May 8, 2026.
DJC Law is working with Ramos Law in Colorado. The filing centers on what the firm alleges were failures in perimeter fence design, maintenance and monitoring, along with a lack of timely air traffic control alerts after the breach.
At about 11:13 p.m. MT, 41-year-old Michael Mott breached the airport’s eastern perimeter fence, according to the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner and airport accounts. He reached runway 17L in 2 minutes after scaling the fence in 15 seconds.
Six minutes later, at approximately 11:19 p.m., Frontier Airlines Flight 4345 struck Mott during its takeoff roll at 150 mph. The collision pulled him into the engine, ignited a fire and filled the cabin with smoke, prompting pilots to abort takeoff.
The aircraft carried 224 passengers and 7 crew. Twelve passengers suffered minor injuries, including smoke inhalation and evacuation slide impacts, and 5 were hospitalized.
The breach happened about 2 miles from the terminal at an 8 feet high perimeter fence topped with barbed wire. A ground detection sensor alarm triggered shortly before entry, but an airport surveillance worker attributed it to deer and missed Mott on video.
Runway 17L remained closed until 11 a.m. on May 9, 2026. Denver International Airport confirmed the timing in an X post, saying the plane “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday.”
Frontier said in a statement, “Smoke was reported in the cabin, and the pilots aborted takeoff. Passengers were then safely evacuated via slides as a matter of precaution. We are investigating this incident.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also commented on X. He wrote, “A trespasser breached airport security at Denver Int’l Airport, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence, and ran out onto a runway. The trespasser. was then struck by Frontier Airlines Flight 4345 during takeoff at high speed. Preliminary reports are 12 people were hurt, with 5 taken to the hospital.”
The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner later ruled Mott’s death a suicide via postmortem. Multiple investigations remain open, involving the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security Administration and Denver Police, while Denver International Airport is conducting an incident analysis and after-action review of perimeter security.
Andres Pereira, an attorney with DJC Law, said the event should not have happened. “This was, in the words of Denver International Airport’s own CEO, a ‘horrible and preventable tragedy,'” Pereira said.
Phil Washington, chief executive of Denver International Airport, called it a “preventable tragedy.” That phrase now sits at the center of the legal claim filed by DJC Law, PLLC, which argues that airport safeguards failed before the aircraft ever reached takeoff speed.
The claim seeks more than $10 million for passengers who were aboard the flight during the aborted departure and evacuation. It names the City and County of Denver as the target of the filing and ties the requested damages to the breach, the collision, the fire, the smoke in the cabin and the injuries reported after passengers exited on slides.
DJC Law, PLLC described itself as “the largest Austin-based veteran-owned personal injury law firm in Texas” in the filing announcement. Its partnership with Ramos Law gives the case both a Texas-based lead firm and Colorado counsel as the claim moves forward.
Passenger counts and injury numbers have formed a central part of the case record. The Airbus A321 carried 231 people in all, counting passengers and crew, and the figure has been repeated across official accounts as investigators and lawyers piece together the six-minute span between the perimeter breach and the impact on the runway.
The legal allegations extend beyond the fence itself. They also focus on how quickly airport personnel recognized the alarm, what surveillance staff saw after the sensor activated, and whether air traffic control received timely warning after Mott entered the secured area and moved toward the departure runway.
No response had been issued by the City of Denver as of May 14, 2026. Ramos Law also had not responded publicly by that date.
The incident left Denver International Airport confronting questions about a perimeter barrier that Mott crossed in 15 seconds, a runway he reached in 2 minutes, and a flight crew that had already accelerated to 150 mph before anyone could stop the departure.
