Kyler Efinger died almost two years ago, after crawling into an airplane’s engine cowling at the Salt Lake City International Airport.
The plane’s pilot was not told that a disoriented man was wandering about the runway, and taxied his plane until it was too late, according to a lawsuit Judd and Lisa Efinger, Kyler’s parents, filed Tuesday against Salt Lake City.
That alleged oversight — as well as other issues the Efingers claim slowed the search effort for Kyler — show that the city failed to maintain safe and secure premises at the airport, Kyler’s parents claim in the legal filing.
The lawsuit argues that if police had found Kyler just 30 seconds earlier, he would still be alive.
The Efingers are requesting a jury trial to determine the amount of damages they should be paid, according to the court filing.
Because of the pending litigation, Salt Lake City declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Kyler, a 30-year-old Park City man with bipolar disorder, passed through security at the Salt Lake City airport on Jan. 1, 2024, at about 8:50 p.m., according to the lawsuit.
He was going to fly to Denver, according to police at the time. There, he planned to visit a sick grandparent, Judd Efinger told Fox 13 shortly after Kyler was found.
About 10 minutes after Kyler passed through airport security, the lawsuit states, he began experiencing a manic episode and left his plane’s gate.
Citing the airport’s surveillance footage, the lawsuit states that Kyler walked and ran down moving walkways several times, interrupting the flow of foot traffic.
At about 9:28 p.m., according to the lawsuit, Kyler arrived at the airport’s Utah Jazz pro shop and bought a jersey. The filing claims Kyler was acting so unusually, the store manager gave him the shirt for less than half its regular price to quicken the transaction. Kyler later returned for a bag he had left behind in the store, the lawsuit states, and was yelling incoherently and demanded his money back.
After the manager said he would need the jersey back in order to return the money, Kyler grew agitated, the lawsuit states. Growing uncomfortable, the store manager called the airport emergency line, and Kyler left, the lawsuit states.
After trying to open several locked doors at airport gates, the lawsuit states that Kyler left through an emergency exit door at 9:54 p.m., which led him to the airport’s outdoor ramp area.
The lawsuit argues that the airport had no systems to prevent someone from easily accessing the tarmac.
When he pushed the emergency exit door, the lawsuit states, airport officials should have immediately been notified which exit was opened.
Instead, the legal filing quotes an unnamed police officer as saying the search for Kyler was a “wild goose chase.”
Police initially arrived to investigate the disturbance in the Utah Jazz store, according to officials at the time. Airport control then told them the emergency door had been opened, and police started searching for Kyler on the tarmac.
As police searched the ramp, the lawsuit alleges they received incorrect information and searched the wrong areas. At 10:02 p.m., the lawsuit states, dispatchers told police the right location.
Kyler, meanwhile, made his way to a runway, and took off his clothes, other than a jersey and socks, the lawsuit states. At 10:04 p.m., the filing states, a pilot reported they saw Kyler near the runway.
At 10:07 p.m., Kyler reached the runway’s deicing area, and a minute later sprinted toward an Airbus A220-100, according to the filing. The Airbus had just started taxiing away from the deicing pad, following instructions from air traffic control, the lawsuit states.
According to officials at the time, dispatchers told officers Kyler was spotted under a commercial aircraft and had accessed the engine. At 10:08, police asked air traffic controllers to tell the Airbus pilot to shut down the engines.
The lawsuit argues that because the plane was taxiing even as Kyler was somewhere nearby on the tarmac nearby, air traffic controllers and pilots should have been told to hold in place during the search.
Kyler climbed into the plane’s engine cowling while the engine was running, the lawsuit states. There, the legal filing states he suffered blunt force trauma, which led to his death.
“About the first seven minutes of the city’s search for him were wholly ineffective,” the lawsuit states.
