A 30-year-old man was found dead inside an aircraft engine at the Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah.
The Salt Lake City Police Department told local media on Tuesday (January 2) that the man was last seen alive on Monday (January 1) after he accessed the airport's deicing pad and crawled into a plane engine. A store manager inside the airport reported a disturbance involving a passenger on the secured side of the terminal.
Investigators determined that the man left through an emergency exit door and accessed the airport's ramp area.
The identity of the man and his cause of death remained unknown. Police added that the incident did not impact the airport's overall operation and that no further information was being released at this time.
Man in the Engine
Later that morning, police and airport workers found the man unconscious inside a wing-mounted engine of an occupied commercial aircraft on the deicing pad, but the engines were not running at the time.
First responders removed the man from the engine intake cowling. Despite life-saving efforts, emergency crews declared him dead on the scene.
Meanwhile, Delta Airlines told Fox News Digital that the incident happened in one of their planes, an Airbus A220-100 traveling from Salt Lake to San Francisco.
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.
