Man Found Trespassing on Denver International Airport Airfield Five Months After Fatal Runway Incident
Why It MattersA second perimeter breach at the largest US airport by land area keeps airfield security under pressure and renews scrutiny of how airports respond to fence alarms.
Denver International Airport officials said a man was found trespassing on the north side of the airfield on Saturday at about 2:30 p.m. Denver police identified the suspect as 23-year-old Kibrom Tesfamichael. Officers said he needed medical attention when they found him; he was taken to a local hospital and issued a citation for trespassing. Radio traffic from the airport indicated that the person appeared to have climbed the fence somewhere along the north side of the airfield perimeter, and police said airport operations had already contacted him by the time officers arrived.
Aviation expert Steve Cowell said the system worked because the man was apprehended. He said the airport has a layered, proactive safety system that includes cameras and other technology. The airport is the largest commercial airport by land area in the United States, covering 53 square miles, and Cowell said it is physically impossible to station people or install razor wire to make it like a prison.
The incident follows one in May, when airport officials said a man jumped an 8-foot fence, went onto the runway, was struck by a plane and was killed. A lawsuit filed by passengers and some crew members on that flight claims the crash could have been prevented by airport staff, who allegedly acknowledged an alarm but saw deer rather than the man and took no action. Joe LoRusso, Director of Aviation at Ramos Law and one of the attorneys on the case, said others are now copying what is possible, which he described as a very large concern.
