SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 2, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Salt Lake City police have identified the man who died after he climbed into the engine of an airplane Monday night at Salt Lake City International Airport.
The 30-year-old man was Park City resident Kyler Efinger. He was a ticketed passenger with a boarding pass to Denver, Colorado, the SLCPD said in a news release.
Agencies investigating the fatal incident include the SLCPD, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The investigation began at 9:52 p.m. on Monday, when a store manager inside the airport contacted dispatchers at the airport about a disturbance involving a passenger on the secured side of the terminal. Investigators learned the man, now known to be Efinger, passed through an emergency exit door.
Officers determined that Efinger accessed the airport’s outdoor ramp area from the emergency exit. At 9:57 p.m., dispatchers provided to SLCPD officers a clothing description of the man. At 10:02 p.m., dispatchers provided updated information on the man’s location.
A minute later, dispatchers informed SLCPD officers of the man’s identity based on preliminary information gathered from airport officials. A minute after that, SLCPD officers learned from an airport employee that a pilot reported seeing the man.
At 10:06 p.m., SLCPD officers and Airport Operations located personal items, including clothing and shoes, on one of the airport’s runways. At 10:07 p.m., dispatchers informed SLCPD officers that the man was at one of the airport’s deicing pads. At 10:08 p.m., dispatchers informed SLCPD officers the man was underneath an aircraft and had accessed the engine.
SLCPD officers requested FAA air traffic controllers notify the pilot to shut down the aircraft’s engines.
At 10:08 p.m., SLCPD officers arrived and found the man, unconscious, partially inside a wing-mounted engine of an occupied commercial aircraft on the deicing pad. The aircraft’s engines were rotating, the SLCPD statement says.
Officials pulled the man out of the engine’s intake cowling and attempted lifesaving efforts. CPR was administered, and naloxone was administered; however, Efinger died at the scene.
“SLCPD officers will work with the medical examiner’s office to confirm the cause and manner of death, which may include a toxicology report,” the department’s statement says.
The area was secured, and passengers were booked on different flights. The Salt Lake City Police Department’s Crime Lab responded to the scene to identify, collect, and process evidence and analyze the scene.
“No additional information is expected to be released pending the autopsy,” the SLCPD statement says.
