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Crashed 1942 Ryan Aeronautical
ST3KR: Officials work on the scene of a vintage airplane that crash-landed on
the Penmar Golf Course in the Venice area of Los Angeles, Thursday, March 5,
2015. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes). INSET: Harrison Ford
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When a man battles Darth
Vader, Nazis and other evil-doers for work, what does he do for fun? Harrison
Ford's answer is found in a pilot's license and the freedom to take to the
skies at will. But with adventure comes
risk, just as Han Solo, Indiana Jones and other daring movie characters brought
to life by Ford realized. On Thursday, one of Hollywood's preeminent stars
added a plane crash to an aviation record that includes both mishaps and public
service.
Ford, 72, who as dashing
archaeologist Jones battled Hitler's henchmen in the World War II-set
"Raiders of the Lost Ark," was flying a vintage plane of that era
when it lost engine power shortly after takeoff from Santa Monica Municipal
Airport.
AP report continues:
The plane crash-landed on
a golf course near the airport where Ford houses the craft.
He was pulled from the
plane and given initial help by doctors who happened to be playing golf on the
course that is right next to Santa Monica Municipal Airport, Los Angeles fire
officials said. He was then taken by ambulance to a hospital in a condition
described as fair-to-moderate.
"He had no other
choice but to make an emergency landing, which he did safely," Ford
spokeswoman Ina Treciokas said. "He was banged up and is in the hospital
receiving medical care."
The injuries are not
life-threatening and he is expected to make a full recovery, she said in a
statement Friday night. No one on the ground was hurt.
Ford, who is known to
shun attention to his private life, has been publicly effusive about his love
of flying.
After arriving in his own
plane at a 2001 fundraising gala for Seattle's Museum of Flight, Ford said he
was glad to help "engage kids in the romance and the mystery and the
adventure of flying. ... I know what it means."
Ford took off from the LA
area airport at 2 p.m. Friday. About 20 minutes later, he told the tower that
he had engine failure and was making an immediate return, according to a
recording posted by the website LiveATC.net.
The plane had been flying
at about 3,000 feet and hit a tree on the way down, according to witnesses and
officials.
Ford had a cut to his
forehead and scraped arms, but it wasn't clear what internal injuries he may
have had, Los Angeles Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Butler said. "He wasn't
a bloody mess. He was alert. He had good vitals," Butler said.
The bystanders pulled him
from the plane because they were afraid it might explode or catch fire, Butler
said.
The plane, a yellow 1942
Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR with stars on its wings, was upright and with damage
mostly confined to the front. No one on the ground was hurt.
"I would say that
this is an absolutely beautifully executed — what we would call — a forced or
emergency landing, by an unbelievably well-trained pilot," said Christian
Fry of the Santa Monica Airport Association.
The airport's single
runway sits amid residential neighborhoods in the city of more than 90,000 on
the Pacific Ocean. City leaders and many residents advocate closing the
airport, citing noise and safety concerns. Other airplanes taking off or
landing there have crashed into homes, and in September 2013 four people died
when their small jet veered into a hangar and caught fire.
He came down on a fairway
of Penmar golf course.
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