Man Dies After Breaching Airport Security, Crawling into Plane Engine
A tragic incident occurred Monday night at the Salt Lake City International Airport when a man breached airport security and crawled into the engine of a plane, resulting in his death. The man was identified as 30-year-old Kyler Efinger, a Park City resident who was a ticketed passenger with a boarding pass to Denver, Colorado.
The ordeal began at 9:52 p.m. when a store manager inside the airport reported a disturbance involving a passenger on the secured side of the terminal. Airport control then informed officers that a man had gone through an emergency exit door. The disturbance that triggered the incident remains under investigation, according to Salt Lake City Police.
As officers and airport employees began searching for Efinger, they discovered that he had accessed the airport’s ramp area from the emergency exit and then ran to the south end of the airport’s west runway, eventually crawling into the engine of a plane.
A timeline released by the Salt Lake City Police Department revealed that Efinger’s location and clothing description were quickly relayed to officers. A pilot later reported seeing Efinger, leading to the discovery of his clothing and shoes on one of the airport’s runways. At 10:08 p.m., Efinger was found unconscious inside the engine of an occupied commercial aircraft. Despite life-saving efforts by officials, including CPR and naloxone administration, Efinger died at the scene.
The incident did not have a widespread impact on airport operations, but authorities did work to deplane passengers and secure the area. An investigation is now underway by local and federal officials, including the Salt Lake City Police Department, Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, and Transportation Security Administration.
The plane that Efinger accessed was a Delta flight set to travel to San Francisco with two pilots, three flight attendants, and 95 customers on board. Delta reported that the flight was canceled and passengers were rebooked on other flights following the incident.
In a statement, Delta expressed that nothing is more important than the safety and security of its customers and staff, and the airline is fully cooperating with all aviation authority and law enforcement investigations.