Horrifying new footage from inside a Frontier Airlines plane is revealing the terrifying moments passengers believed they might die after the aircraft struck a person on the runway during takeoff at Denver International Airport, sending smoke pouring into the cabin and triggering a chaotic emergency evacuation in the middle of the night.

The shocking incident happened Friday aboard Frontier Airlines Flight 4345, an Airbus A321neo preparing to depart Denver for Los Angeles with 224 passengers and seven crew members onboard. According to airport officials, the plane was accelerating down the runway at nearly 139 miles per hour when it collided with a trespasser who had breached airport security moments earlier.

Videos recorded by terrified passengers quickly spread online, showing thick smoke filling the aircraft cabin as frightened travelers screamed, grabbed their belongings, and rushed toward emergency exits while flight attendants shouted instructions over the chaos.

In one clip, passengers can be seen crouching low while smoke drifts through the aisle and panicked voices yell, “Go! Go! Go!” as emergency slides deploy outside the aircraft. Another video captured people stumbling onto the dark runway carrying bags and personal items despite repeated safety warnings to leave belongings behind.

Passengers later described hearing what sounded like an explosion seconds before the aircraft violently shook beneath them.

“We thought the engine blew up,” one traveler told reporters, recalling how the cabin suddenly filled with smoke while children cried and people began praying aloud. Another passenger said the impact felt so severe that many onboard initially believed the plane had crashed during takeoff.

The horror intensified after emergency radio audio from the cockpit surfaced publicly.

“Tower, we just hit somebody,” one pilot could be heard telling air traffic controllers moments after aborting takeoff. Ground personnel later reported seeing “limbs on the runway” near the damaged engine after the collision.

Authorities later identified the dead man as 41-year-old Michael Mott, who investigators say climbed over an eight-foot barbed-wire perimeter fence before calmly walking across the active runway only minutes before impact. Officials now believe the incident was an intentional act and have ruled the death a suicide.

The collision caused a fire inside one of the aircraft’s engines and forced pilots to immediately stop the takeoff. Emergency crews rushed to the scene while passengers evacuated using inflatable slides onto the freezing tarmac. Twelve people suffered minor injuries during the evacuation, with five transported to local hospitals.

As investigators continue reviewing the terrifying sequence of events, disturbing questions are now emerging about airport security failures after officials admitted alarm systems had already been triggered before the collision — but operators mistakenly believed the movement near the perimeter fence was caused by deer wandering close to the runway.

The National Transportation Safety Board is now reviewing the emergency evacuation procedures, while aviation experts warn the incident may become one of the most disturbing runway breaches seen at a major US airport in years.