Utah man found dead after crawling into plane engine at Salt Lake City airport, police say

Multiple local and federal agencies are investigating the death of a Utah man on Monday after he climbed into the engine of a stationary commercial aircraft at the Salt Lake City International Airport.

Salt Lake City police on Tuesday afternoon identified the man as 30-year-old Kyler Efinger, a resident of Park City, Utah. A medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine Efinger's cause of death, which the Salt Like City Police Department said in a news release may include a toxicology report.

Efinger, who had a boarding pass for Denver, was able to force his way through an emergency exit to access the airfield, where he headed for the airplane and entered its wing-mounted engine, authorities said.

The airplane, which was bound for San Francisco, was packed with passengers when authorities found Efinger unconscious inside the jet engine's cowling, according to a news release from the airport. Police and other emergency personnel were not able to revive Efinger and he died at the scene.

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A store manager inside the airport was the first to contact dispatchers with the airport control center after reportedly seeing a passenger pass through an emergency exit, prompting Salt Lake City police to respond.

A preliminary investigation revealed that Efinger was able to get onto the airfield after breaching a security door just before 10 p.m. Monday. Once near the runways, Efinger ran to the south end of the airport's west runway, where crews were de-icing a plane, according to airport officials.

Police and airport employees searched for Efinger in the ramp area and found him minutes later inside the engine of a commercial aircraft occupied with passengers. Some of the man's personal items, including his clothing and shoes, were found on one of the airport’s runways, Salt Lake City police said.

Authorities had initially said that the plane's engines were not running when Efinger crawled into them. However, police said in a Tuesday update that the aircraft's engines were rotating and that the specific stage of engine operation remains under investigation.

First-responders rendered aid to an unconscious Efinger, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Passengers were taken off the plane, but overall operations of the airport were not otherwise disrupted, according to Salt Lake City police.

The police department is investigating the incident along with the Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, and the Transportation Security Administration.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Utah man dies in airplane engine at Salt Lake City airport