A man was found dead inside an engine of a Delta Air Lines Airbus A220-100 (with registration N108DQ) in Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) on January 1, 2024.
Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD) identified the man as 30-year old Kyler Efinger, a resident of Park City, Utah.
According to police sources, Efinger held a valid boarding pass to Denver, Colorado, but a store manager inside the airport contacted dispatchers with the Airport Control Center to report a disturbance involving a passenger on the secured side of the terminal.
In a press statement, the airport said that Efinger breached an airport security door and accessed the airfield.
“The individual ran to the south end of the airport’s west runway where deicing
operations were underway and crawled into an aircraft engine that was not running,” the airport said.
The Delta Air Lines aircraft was enroute from SLC airport to San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
SLCPD officers and airport employees found the man unconscious inside a wing-mounted engine of an occupied commercial aircraft on the deicing pad.
The incident did not impact airport operations. According to the police, SLCPD officers, Airport Operations and the Salt Lake City Fire Department performed lifesaving efforts, but Efinger died on scene.
