Driver hits Floyd Bennett Field building; back-seat passenger dies
A 33-year-old woman practicing driving at Floyd Bennett Field hit a building at about 6:11 p.m. on April 8, 2026, and back-seat passenger Pearle Davis, 76, died after being taken to a hospital.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
A 33-year-old woman was practicing driving a Toyota RAV4 at Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field on the evening of April 8, 2026, when she lost control and hit a building, police told reporters. Back-seat passenger Pearle Davis, 76, died after being taken to Brookdale University Hospital. The driver was critically injured, and Davis's daughter, who sat in front, was in stable condition. Davis's granddaughter said the family had been celebrating the driver's birthday. The official crash record lists driver inexperience as a contributing factor; News 12 reported that officials were still examining why the driver lost control.
A driving lesson ended at a building.
Police told reporters that a 33-year-old woman was practicing driving a 2022 Toyota RAV4 when she lost control and hit a building at Floyd Bennett Field. The official record places the crash at 6:11 p.m. on April 8 and records one death and two injuries among the three occupants.
All three women were taken to Brookdale University Hospital, where Pearle Davis died. The driver was critically injured, while the 45-year-old front-seat passenger was in stable condition, according to police accounts.
The crash happened inside Floyd Bennett Field.
The official record locates the crash near 5051 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. The Daily News reported that the driver left the roadway inside Floyd Bennett Field and hit a former hangar used as a warehouse. Once New York City's first municipal airport, the site is now part of Gateway National Recreation Area and includes parkland and recreation facilities.
Davis's family remembers a life full of adventure.
Pearle Davis spent decades at work and loved to dance.
Davis, 76, lived in Bushwick and had retired after about 50 years with the company that became Verizon, her granddaughter Kameeka Pope told the Daily News. Pope said Davis was a widow with two daughters, two granddaughters and a teenage great-grandson. Remembering her grandmother's love of amusement parks and adventure, Pope said, "She loved to dance."
The other occupants were hospitalized.
Pope said Davis and the other women had been celebrating the driver's birthday. Davis's 45-year-old daughter was in the front passenger seat, according to the Daily News. On April 9, Pope said the driver remained unconscious, and police said Davis's daughter was in stable condition.
Investigators examined why the driver lost control.
The official crash record lists driver inexperience as a contributing factor. News 12 reported that officials were still working to determine why the driver lost control. The New York Post reported no arrests as of April 9.