Airport officials were surprised to find an abandoned aircraft positioned nose-down in the grass near a runway earlier this week. The pilot of the damaged 1972 Cessna Skyhawk was missing, and it was evident that the plane had veered off the runway following a rough landing on Tuesday.
The unoccupied Cessna N20392 was located around 5 am at Naples Municipal Airport in Florida, during a period when the airport’s control tower was closed from 10 pm to 6 am. Security personnel at the airport observed two individuals exiting the plane shortly after it landed in the field, appearing unharmed, adding to the mystery surrounding the incident.
Robin King, the airport’s communications director, recounted the discovery, stating that they found the aircraft in the field early in the morning. Following the removal of the disabled plane from the field by 6:30 am, normal airport operations resumed after a brief runway closure.
FlightAware data revealed that the plane had made several loops over Fort Myers and Naples before landing at Naples Airport around 2:40 am. In an interview with WINK News, King described the situation as unusual and mysterious, noting that the pilot, identified as 24-year-old Brianna Brown, returned later in the day once the aircraft had been relocated for inspection.
Lt. Bryan McGinn of the Naples Police Department confirmed that the pilot reported sliding off the runway and notifying airport staff. It was discovered that Brown had rented the plane from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and flown it to Naples. The incident has been reported to the police, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been informed for further investigation.
Brown, a resident of Fort Lauderdale, escaped unharmed and is cooperating with authorities in their investigation. The potential charges against Brown or the unidentified other individual on board remain unclear at this time.