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Kyler Efinger, 30, died after he was found inside an airplane engine at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Jan. 1, 2024A new lawsuit filed by Efinger’s parents against the city alleged that their son, who suffered a mental health episode, would still be alive if officers had been able to find him 30 seconds soonerThe complaint accused the city of wrongful death and negligence
The parents of a Utah man say the 30-year-old was having an “obvious mental health episode” when he walked through an airport’s emergency exit doors and died after crawling inside a plane’s engine. Now they’re suing, alleging his death could have been prevented.
At the time of the incident on Jan. 1, 2024, the Salt Lake City Police Department said in a news release that the victim, identified as Kyler Efinger, of Park City, was a ticketed passenger with a boarding pass to Denver at Salt Lake City International Airport, which is overseen by the Salt Lake City Department of Airports.
According to the complaint dated Tuesday, Dec. 30, and filed in Utah by his parents, Judd and Lisa Efinger, Kyler was planning to visit his ill grandfather. The court documents, which was obtained by PEOPLE, stated that Efinger was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 10 years ago and “occasionally experienced episodes in which he became visibly disoriented.”
The complaint stated that about 9 p.m. local time, Efinger experienced a manic episode and left the gate. As recorded by surveillance footage, he walked and ran down the moving walkways several times, displaying behavior that “was objectively unusual for an adult.”
Nearly 30 minutes later, Efinger went to a Utah Jazz store near an airport gate, the complaint read. According to the store manager, Efinger behaved so unusually that he sold Efinger a jersey for less than the full amount in order to speed up the transaction. After Efinger left the store without his rolling bag, the manager contacted Airport Operations, which then made two announcements for Efinger to return to the store to pick up the bag.
As stated in the complaint, according to the manager and witnessed by Airport Operations staff, Efinger went running to the store without shoes and a half-zipped shirt. The manager said that Efinger accused him of holding his bag “hostage” and “his whole life is in there. Efinger allegedly demanded his $200 back, to which the manager said he would comply if Efinger returned the purchased jersey.
As the manager was calling the airport emergency line, Efinger left his bag and went running down the terminal, according to the court documents, which further alleged that Airport Operations staff didn’t take any further steps to address Efinger, who was “agitated” and “incoherent.”
Then, according to the complaint, at about 9:52 p.m., Efinger — who had his shoes in his hands —tried to open a door to a jet bridge at a gate where a plane was docked, but that door was locked. About a minute later, he tried to open another gate door that was also locked, and he fell down. When he got up, the complaint added, Efinger pounded his shoe against a window near the gate.
He then allegedly went through the emergency door of a gate that led from the Sterile Area of the terminal to the apron/Secure Identification Display Area. That door, the complaint alleged, was not equipped with a delayed egress locking system (DE), which would have required a person who activated the bar to wait 15 to 20 seconds for the lock to deactivate.
Efinger then ran down the stairs and opened another door, which the complaint alleged also lacked a DE or protective system, leading to the outside tarmac.
“The City did not maintain any impediments to prevent a visibly disoriented person from freely accessing the tarmac, with all of its inherent dangers, without being noticed or tracked,” the court documents said. “This condition was not a safe one.”
“Kyler’s pushing the bar of the emergency exit door should have given City personnel immediate notification of the exact time and location of that exit,” the complaint stated, adding, “The City’s employees and agents did not know where Kyler had exited or were unable to communicate the information clearly.”
Citing audio communications, Efinger’s parents alleged that there was confusion among dispatchers and officers during the search for their son. About eight minutes had passed before they were able to get the correct information on where Efinger exited onto the tarmac, the complaint stated.
Efinger made his way onto a runway where he allegedly removed his pants and undergarments, leaving him wearing a jersey and socks, according to the complaint. At about 10:07 pm, he reached the deicing area near the runway, and about a minute later, he ran toward an Airbus aircraft that had just started its taxi from the deice pad to the runway. The suit alleged that city personnel did not inform air traffic controllers and pilots that “a disoriented person was outside on the tarmac in the area of the deicing pad near Runway 34L. “
A pilot of the plane later told authorities that he stopped the plane’s engine after spotting Efinger, according to court documents.
Efinger climbed into the plane’s engine cowling as the engine was still running, the complaint stated. Eventually, the engine blades pulled Efinger’s dreadlocked hair before killing him.
“Kyler passed away from blunt head trauma from his head being forcibly pulled against the blades of the engine,” the complaint said.
The suit alleged that Efinger would still be alive if officers found the man 30 seconds sooner, describing the city’s search for him in the first seven seconds as “wholly ineffective.” It accused Salt Lake City of failing to maintain safe premises and security systems, creating and employing an unsafe emergency exit system, failing to notify air traffic controllers, pilots and ground crew of a disoriented person on the runway and deicing area, as well as failing to implement a coherent emergency response.
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In addition to the wrongful death claim, Efinger’s parents also accused the city of negligence and premises liability. The suit is seeking damages exceeding $300,000 and a jury trial.
In a statement shared with PEOPLE on Friday, Jan. 2, through their attorneys, the victim’s parents said they brought the suit “to seek accountability and to effect positive change so something like this doesn’t happen to another family. People experiencing mental health crises need our help, support, and compassion.”
In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for the Salt Lake City mayor’s office declined to comment to PEOPLE due to the pending litigation.
If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.