Man found dead inside plane engine at Utah airport

Investigators do not know what caused the man’s death

A man was found dead inside an airplane engine at the Salt Lake City International Airport after he reportedly exited the facility through a security door and ran onto the airfield.

A store manager contacted the airport's control centre around 9:52pm on Monday to report a disturbance involving a 30-year-old man at a store.

When police arrived, the man reportedly exited the airport interior through an emergency door with access to the tarmac. He reportedly ran to the south end of the airport's west runway, where workers were de-icing planes, according to KSLTV, citing the Salt Lake City Department of Airports.

An aircraft bound for San Francisco operated by Delta Air Lines was on the tarmac at the time and was preparing to depart. Airport officials forced the flight to return to its gate — and later cancelled the flight — due to the individual who was running around on the tarmac. Delta Air Lines said all of the passengers were rebooked to 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 in a statement.

Police and airport employees eventually found the 30-year-old man unresponsive inside of the engine of the Delta aircraft. The engines were not running when they found the man, according to investigators.

“Emergency personnel responded to the scene and found the man unconscious and were not able to revive him,” airport officials said in a statement. “It is unclear at this time what injuries caused the man’s death, whose name is being withheld upon notification of family members.”

Police on scene reportedly performed lifesaving efforts after they found the man unconscious inside the engine, but he ultimately died at the scene.

Airport officials and police are working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board and the Transportation Security Administration to determine what happened to the man and how he ended up inside the airplane's engine.