Man dead after entering airplane engine at Salt Lake City International Airport

SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX) – A 30-year-old man is dead after illegally accessing Salt Lake City International Airport’s ramp area and getting into an airplane engine Monday night, according to Salt Lake City Police Department.

At around 9:50 p.m. on Jan. 1, a store manager at the airport contacted authorities with the Airport Control Center about a passenger on the secured side of the terminal.

SLCPD officers responded to the call, learning that the man had passed through an emergency exit door.

Police and airport employees started searching for the man and found that he had accessed the airport’s ramp area from the emergency exit.

At around 10:10 p.m., authorities found the man unconscious inside a wing-mounted engine of an occupied commercial aircraft on the deicing pad. The plane’s engine was not running at the time, though the aircraft was preparing for a flight to San Francisco, according to a spokesperson for the Salt Lake City International Airport.

Authorities worked to get the man out of the engine. Salt Lake City Fire personnel performed life-saving efforts, but the man died on scene.

The man’s identity is not being released at this time.

“It is unclear at this time what injuries caused the man’s death,” an airport spokesperson wrote in a statement shared with Nexstar.

Airport authorities are working with police as well as officials with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to investigate the incident.

“Additional details will be released pending the outcome of the investigation,” the spokesperson said.