Left in ‘plane’ sight: Police looking for suspects in illegal dumping incident

BAY COUNTY, Fla. ( WMBB ) – Springfield Police are looking for the people responsible for dumping part of a small airplane in a vacant lot.

Police officers found the front half of the single-engine aircraft Friday off of Transmitter Road. They were able to determine the plane was a prop at Zoo World, where guests could pose for photos.

Zoo World no longer wanted the airplane. Someone offered to remove the airplane if they could sell it for scrap, but when they showed up at the scrap metal business, there was a problem.

“They had taken it to the scrap yard. There’s some sort of material inside the instruments that causes them to glow at night. As a result, the scrap yard could not take them. They took a portion of the plane, but they did not take the portion behind me,” the Springfield Police Department Assistant Chief Russel Voyles said.

Once police find the people responsible, they could face felony illegal dumping charges. Those charges carry up to 5-years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines.

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