A 30-year-old man died at Salt Lake City International Airport after he accessed the airport’s deicing pad and crawled into an aircraft engine, authorities said Tuesday.
The initial investigation began at 9:52 a.m. Monday when a store manager inside the airport reported a disturbance involving a passenger on the secured side of the terminal, the Salt Lake City Police Department said.
Investigators determined the man had left through an emergency exit door and accessed the airport’s ramp area.
At around 10:10 a.m., police and airport workers found the man unconscious inside a wing-mounted engine of an occupied commercial aircraft on the deicing pad, the department said. The aircraft’s engines were not running at the time.
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Delta Air Lines told Fox News Digital that the incident happened while two pilots, three flight attendants and 95 customers were aboard the Airbus A220-100 aircraft set to travel to San Francisco.
First responders removed the man from the engine intake cowling and declared him dead on the scene despite life-saving efforts, police said.
Authorities were working to identify the man and his cause of death.
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Delta said the flight was forced to return to the gate and canceled. The airline said its customers impacted by the cancellation were rebooked on other flights.
"As nothing is more important than the safety and security of our customers and people, Delta is fully cooperating with all aviation authority and law enforcement investigations," a Delta spokesperson said.
Police said the incident did not impact the airport's overall operation and that no further information is being released at this time.
