A man's body was tragically found inside an airplane engine at Salt Lake City International Airport.
According to the Salt Lake City Police Department's (SLCPD) press release, the incident occurred on Monday (January 1), and the passenger was identified as 30-year-old Kyler Efinger.
Efinger - who had a boarding pass for a flight to Denver - reportedly got onto the secure ramp area of the airport through a terminal emergency exit and "ran to the south end of the airport’s west runway where deicing operations were underway," as cited by CNN.
He then crawled inside the engine of Delta Air Lines Flight 2348, an Airbus A220 about to depart for San Francisco. The aircraft returned to the gate, where all 95 passengers deplaned, and the flight was ultimately canceled.
Authorities from SLCPD arrived at the scene at approximately 9:52PM after a store manager called 911 and reported "a disturbance" involving Efinger. The details of the disturbance are still under investigation.
During the search, officers found personal items belonging to the man on one of the airport's runways. Around 10:08PM, dispatchers then informed SLCPD officers that the Park City, Utah resident was underneath an aircraft and had accessed an engine.
FAA air traffic controllers then instructed the pilot to turn off the plane's engines.
Shortly after, emergency responders discovered Efinger "unconscious" and "partially inside" one of the commercial plane's wing-mounted engines, which were still rotating. Police have noted that "the specific stage of engine operation remains under investigation".
The passenger was quickly removed from the engine and officials closed off the area before performing life-saving efforts such as CPR and the administration of naloxone (a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose).
Unfortunately, they were not able to revive Efinger as he tragically died at the scene. "It is unclear at this time what injuries caused the man’s death," the airport stated.
The department shared that an autopsy will be conducted to determine Efinger's cause and manner of death. Medical examiners may also conduct a toxicology report.
In addition to this, several agencies are currently conducting separate investigations into the tragic incident, including the SLCPD, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The National Transportation Safety Board said it is "gathering information" about the death but stated that local police are handling the investigation.
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