SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Authorities are investigating after a man at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Monday died when he entered the engine of a commercial plane parked at a deicing pad, police stated.
The 30-year-old has not yet been publicly identified.
The incident began around shortly before 10 p.m. Jan. 1, when a terminal shop manager contacted airport authorities to report a passenger disturbance, according to a statement from the Salt Lake City Police Department.
Details on the disturbance weren't released, and it wasn't immediately clear if there was some type of incident at the retail area before the man accessed the airplane's engine.
According to a statement from SLC International's communication department, the 30-year-old then used an airport security door to access 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," according to a statement from Nancy Volmer, Salt Lake City International Airport's communications director. "The plane was enroute from SLC to (San Francisco)."
While the engines were not running, the plane had already boarded its passengers and was set to take off after deicing.
Officials conducted a search for the man, and eventually found him unconscious inside the engine cowling.
"SLCPD officers, Airport Operations, and the Salt Lake City Fire Department performed lifesaving efforts, but the man died on scene," according to the police statement.
It's unclear why the man climbed into the engine or what ultimately killed him.
All passengers from the aircraft involved were deplaned. Police stated that airport operations were not significantly impacted.
SLCPD investigators were working with the medical examiner's office to determine the exact cause of death and verify the individual's identity.
It's unknown how the man was able to access the restricted area undetected or why the emergency exit door alarm failed to prevent his entry.
Additional information wasn't immediately released about whether the man was traveling with anyone, which airline's plane he accessed, and what kind of delays the passengers on the affected flight faced in the aftermath.
While details on the airline weren't confirmed, Delta flight 2348 from SLC to SFO, scheduled to depart at 9:33 p.m., was the only San Francisco-bound flight canceled out of Salt Lake City on Monday.
The plane for that particular flight was a twin-engine Airbus A220-100.
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