SALT LAKE CITY — One week after a Park City man breached an airport security door and died in a plane engine, the Salt Lake City Department of Airports is trying to clear up any building security concerns.
“These moments give us an opportunity to reflect on what could’ve happened. What if something else had occurred?” said executive director Bill Wyatt.
On Jan. 1, employees inside the emergency operation center heard an alarm set off by 30-year-old Kyler Efinger.
The alarm was triggered after he opened a door to the airfield.
“Here at the airport when any alarm goes off, our personnel in our control center are immediately pulling up a camera and looking to see what’s going on,” said director of operations Treber Andersen.
It all happened around 10 p.m.
“It was dark, and there was a certain point where he went into an area where it’s more dark,” said Andersen.
Wyatt said the security plan “worked very well” in tracking Efinger down.
“Being able to find him, identify him, locate him within ten minutes is really pretty extraordinary,” he said.
Officials worked to get Efinger out of the area and performed life-saving efforts, including CPR and administration of naloxone, however, he died at the scene.
Wyatt said there are sixty doors just like the one Efinger opened in case of emergency.
“These exit doors are a code requirement, fire code requirement,” he said. “And so they have panic bars. If you push a panic bar, the door is going to open.”
He said the Salt Lake City Police Department, TSA, FAA, and the NTSB are still investigating.
As for the Salt Lake City Department of Airports, he said their conclusion is that this was a “tragic event” but a security moment where they “pulled together” and “communicated effectively.”
