Brown Field Municipal Airport is in the Otay Mesa neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States, 13 miles southeast of Downtown San Diego and named in honor of Commander Melville S. Brown, USN, who was killed in an airplane crash in 1936. Its main runway is 7,972 feet long. Its FAA/IATA airport code is SDM. Formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Statio…Brown Field Municipal Airport is in the Otay Mesa neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States, 13 miles southeast of Downtown San Diego and named in honor of Commander Melville S. Brown, USN, who was killed in an airplane crash in 1936. Its main runway is 7,972 feet long. Its FAA/IATA airport code is SDM. Formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Station Brown Field, it is now a civilian reliever airport and a port of entry from Mexico. It is sometimes staffed by the U.S. Customs Service, but only upon request of incoming pilots to the Federal Aviation Administration.