30-year-old Kyler Efinger from Park City was discovered dead at Salt Lake City Airport after breaching an emergency exit door on a Delta Airlines plane. The unsettling episode unfolded on Monday when Efinger, who possessed a boarding pass for Denver, managed to exit the plane and climb into one of its engines while it sat on a de-icing pad with turbines in motion.
Salt Lake City Police reported that Efinger was found unconscious inside the engine intake cowling, designed to direct air flow to the engine fan. The discovery was made after a store manager at the airport observed a passenger passing through an emergency exit around 10 pm local time.
Efinger’s clothing, shoes, and personal items were found on a runway, prompting officers to urgently inform the pilot to shut off the aircraft’s engines. Despite immediate efforts by paramedics, who performed CPR and administered naloxone in an attempt to reverse a potential opioid overdose, Efinger was pronounced dead at the scene.
The cause and manner of Efinger’s death are still under investigation by the police. Delta Airlines confirmed that the affected flight, Delta 2348 bound for San Francisco from Salt Lake City, was canceled after passengers safely deplaned. Delta expressed its commitment to cooperating fully with aviation authorities and law enforcement in their investigations, emphasizing the paramount importance of customer and personnel safety.