Drunk pilot flies a stolen plane near a nuclear plant at less than 20,000 feet. Then he crashes into a sunflower field

Hungary‘s Paks nuclear plant, in the south of the country, generates roughly half of the nation’s electricity. The airspace around it is not somewhere civilian pilots are supposed to wander into. Civilian aircraft are prohibited from flying within two miles of the plant at altitudes below 20,000 feet.

According to the New York Post, military radar picked up a Cessna 172 after it entered the restricted zone. Hungarian defense minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi laid out the sequence of events in a Facebook post. Two Gripen fighter jets were sent toward the area in southern Hungary in response — a heavy reaction for a small Cessna.

The Cessna didn’t stay airborne much longer. Minutes later, the Cessna came down in a sunflower field roughly four miles from the plant, in what appears to have been an emergency landing rather than anything more controlled. A crash landing doesn’t always end that cleanly, as a student pilot’s own harrowing touchdown made clear earlier this year. In this case, though, the pilot walked away without injury while the aircraft was badly damaged. The fighter jets reportedly stayed in the area until a rescue helicopter and ground crews reached the wreckage.

The pilot walked away — then allegedly tried to steal a car

The 24-year-old pilot didn’t stick around either. Hungarian police say he was later spotted walking along a nearby road “in a distressed state.” He then allegedly tried to take control of a passing car and drive away before he “was stopped in time.” Officers arrested him and took him in for questioning.

Early tests suggested the man was intoxicated at the time of the incident, and police are running further checks to determine whether other substances were involved as well. Investigators believe the Cessna was taken from nearby Kalocsa Airport before the pilot took off without permission, though how exactly he managed that, and why, remains unclear. Authorities have also said checks will take place at other airports around the country. No damage was reported at the nuclear plant.

None of this is exactly a new genre of story. A Florida man’s own runway misadventure this year followed a similar arc, with alcohol allegedly involved, an aircraft targeted and plans that didn’t survive contact with reality. The comments under the story leaned into the absurdity too. One commenter kept it simple: “Drinking and flying don’t mix.” 

Another imagined what came next, writing, “It would be interesting to be in the same room when the Hungarian police ‘interrogated’ this miscreant,” while a third added, “Can you imagine the questions? I would love to see that.”

Others had already started imagining his life after custody. One commenter joked, “A 24 year old man in a Hungarian Prison is going to be introduced to the rest of the prisoners: ‘Meat Patty’,” while another predicted, “He’s going to be an unhappy camper when he sobers up.”

Not everyone was making jokes, though. One commenter wrote, “ I commend Hungary for having security measures & taking action.”

Additional tests are still underway as police continue investigating the incident. For now, the sunflower field has one very expensive new landmark in it.