Teen girl sneaks into small plane, drives it into fence

FRESNO, Calif. – A 17-year-old girl was arrested Wednesday after authorities say she sneaked into a small plane at a central California airport and drove it into a chain-link fence.

The teenager climbed a fence topped with barbed wire at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport, started up the plane and crashed it into a fence, airport Police Chief Drew Bessinger said.

Bessinger said she breached the fence about a quarter-mile from the commercial terminals and the military area.

No passenger planes were in danger, and no one was injured in the crash, he said.

A grainy surveillance video released by airport officials showed the plane drive in a circle before crashing.

Airport and Fresno police officers responding to a 911 call found the teen in the pilot’s seat, wearing a headset, Bessinger said.

She “appeared to be disoriented and was unco-operative with police when she was taken into custody,” he said.

Bessinger said police are investigating why she took the plane but that there is no indication of “a terrorism-related motive.’”

The girl’s mother told Fresno news station KFSN-TV that she hadn’t heard from her daughter since Tuesday night.

The teenager was arrested on suspicion of theft of an aircraft and booked into juvenile hall.