Denver Airport Alarm Blamed on Deer. Two Minutes Later, a Man Was on the Runway.

Late Friday night at Denver International Airport, a perimeter intrusion alarm activated near the fence line. An operator monitoring the system saw deer in the area and, seeing no person, apparently treated it as wildlife activity.

About two minutes later, 41-year-old Michael Mott was standing on an active runway. Frontier Flight 4345, carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members bound for Los Angeles, struck him during takeoff at approximately 11:19 p.m.

The pilots aborted takeoff after the collision. Smoke filled the cabin and an engine fire broke out. Passengers evacuated the aircraft using emergency slides. Twelve passengers reported minor injuries, and five were taken to hospitals.

Mott was killed. The Denver medical examiner ruled the manner of death a suicide, citing multiple blunt and sharp force injuries as the cause. No suicide note has been recovered.

JUST IN: The man who walked in front of a Frontier jet while it was taking off from Denver has been identified