SLCPD press release: “The Salt Lake City Police Department is conducting a death investigation at the Salt Lake City International Airport after a 30-year-old man died after he accessed an airport deicing pad and entered an aircraft’s engine intake cowling. The aircraft’s engines were not running, based on the preliminary investigation. This investigation started at approximately 9:52 pm on Monday, January 1, 2024, when a store manager inside the airport contacted dispatchers with the Airport Control Center. The store manager reported a disturbance involving a passenger on the secured side of the terminal. As officers with the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Airport Division responded, Airport Control informed officers that the man passed through an emergency exit door.”

“SLCPD officers and Airport Operations employees started looking for the man and determined he accessed the airport’s ramp area from the emergency exit. At approximately 10:10 pm, SLCPD officers and Airport Operations employees found the man unconscious inside a wing-mounted engine of an occupied commercial aircraft on the deicing pad. SLCPD officers and airport employees worked to get the man out of the engine intake cowling. SLCPD officers, Airport Operations, and the Salt Lake City Fire Department performed lifesaving efforts, but the man died on scene. SLCPD officers will work with the medical examiner’s office to confirm the man’s name, cause of death, and to notify next-of-kin. Officers worked with Airport Operations to secure the area and to safely deplaned passengers. This incident did not impact the overall operation to the airport. The Salt Lake City Police Department’s Crime Lab responded to the scene to identify, collect, process, and analyze the scene. No further information on this case is being released.”