A 30-year-old man died after he climbed into a plane engine at Salt Lake City International Airport on Monday night, police and airport officials said.

The man breached an emergency exit, ran to the south end of the airport's west runway where deicing operations were underway and "crawled into an aircraft engine that was not running," an airport official said in a statement. It wasn't immediately clear why the man climbed into the plane engine.

The plane, a Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City to San Francisco, returned to the gate, according to the airline. The flight was canceled and the 95 passengers were rebooked on other flights. The plane was an Airbus A220-100, crewed by two pilots and three flight attendants.

"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 did not release the man's name or cause of death.

The police investigation started around 9:50 p.m. local time after a store manager in the airport reported a disturbance involving a passenger on the secured side of the terminal, authorities said. Airport authorities told police the man had passed through an emergency exit. 

Around 10:10 p.m., the man was found unconscious inside the wing-mounted engine of a plane, police said. Officers and airport employees worked to get the man out. First responders attempted emergency life-saving measures, but the man died on the scene. 

The Transportation Security Administration is aware of the incident and working with airport authorities on the investigation, a TSA spokesperson said. 

Overall airport operations were not impacted. 

In:
• Salt Lake City
• Utah
• Delta Air Lines