Man sucked into jet engine tried to kill himself: Authorities

Man was wanted by police, video shows him colliding with plane

Published May 12, 2026  •  Last updated 16 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Frontier Airlines planes are parked at gates in Denver International Airport (DEN) in Denver, Colo. A flight aborted its takeoff from Denver International Airport late Friday on May 8, 2026 after striking a person on the runway. Photo by Getty Images

A trespasser at Denver Airport who was sucked into a jet engine and dismembered when he stepped in front of an airplane was a career criminal who was arrested for murder. Authorities believe he was trying to kill himself.

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The Denver City and Country Medical Examiner’s Office said Michael Mott, 41, was looking to kill himself when he walked onto the runway as the jet sped towards him. The cause of death was determined to be multiple blunt and sharp force injuries, Chief Medical Examiner Sterling McLaren said Tuesday.

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While a suicide note was not recovered, according to Denver Police, Mott had a history with the law. A spokesperson told the New York Post that Mott was involved in a 2025 assault, but no charges were laid. Public records show over 20 arrests — including one for felony trespass one month before his death — and was in jail at least three times dating back to 2002.

Long rap sheet

Many arrests were for violent crimes including second-degree homicide using a gun in 2005; domestic violence, felony menacing and assault in 2010; second-degree burglary in 2016 and felony assault on a peace officer in 2020. Records also say Mott tried to escape prison in 2017. Violations as a teenager included DUI, a hit-and-run, trespassing and resisting arrest.

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Grim video

Footage shows Mott getting sucked into one of the engines of an Airbus A-321neo in mid-takeoff. He hopped the perimeter fence and was on the tarmac shortly before colliding with the plane, the airport confirmed.

Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington said that an alert went off around nine minutes earlier, when an airport operator on duty “reviewed the alarm and identified a herd of deer just outside of the perimeter fence.”

“They did not initially see the trespasser,” Washington said. “The camera view was alternating between the wildlife and the individual. There are some ditches in the area, so the person was out of view for a bit as well. It took approximately 15 seconds for this person to jump over the 8-foot fence topped with barbed wire. The time between climbing over the fence and being struck by the plane, again, was approximately two minutes. The location of the incident is about two miles away from the terminal. Given the short time period, we were not able to intervene and prevent this person from reaching the runway.’

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‘Limbs’ on the runway

The plane was moving at 139 mph when it hit Mott, FlightAware said. In-flight audio captured the pilots speaking during the incident.

“Tower, Frontier 4345, we’re stopping on the runway. Uh, we just hit somebody… we have an engine fire,” the pilot said, according to air traffic control audio. “I do have limbs on the runway. I believe the aircraft struck an individual… There appear to be human remains on the runway.”

John Anthens, who was on the plane with his sons, saw “the legs of a human spinning around the engine.”

“The majority of people didn’t know what was going on or what happened, but there was just a big explosion and, obviously, when you hear a big explosion, people start screaming, kids are crying and it was horrific,” Anthens told the New York Post.

The engine burst into flames moments later. Every passenger and crew member was safely evacuated from the plane. Twelve passengers suffered minor injuries.

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