Harrison Ford reportedly in hospital after plane crash-landed onto a golf course
Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars” actor Harrison Ford was injured on Thursday when his small plane crash-landed on a golf course outside Los Angeles, official reports said.
The 72-year-old suffered multiple gashes to his head and was left bleeding after the vintage two-seater plane crashed, celebrity website TMZ said.
It published a picture of the downed plane, with the nose cone ripped open.
There was also an audio clip, purportedly of Ford the pilot reporting engine failure.
The Hollywood star's son, Mr Ben Ford, later tweeted that his father was in the hospital - where he was " battered, but ok".
A Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman, who did not identify the senior Ford, initially said the pilot was critically injured, but that was later changed to him being moderately hurt.
Spokesman Erik Scott said:
“When we arrived on scene we had a small aircraft that was down on Penmar Golf Course, near the Santa Monica Airport.”
There was only one person in the plane, he added and declined to give a name, citing privacy issues.
Describing the injuries as “fair to moderate,” another LAFD spokesman Patrick Butler said: “The patient left the scene conscious and breathing.”
KTLA television station cited witnesses saying that bystanders on the golf course helped Ford out of the plane and he could use his legs.
Its video footage showed the aircraft lying on a stretch of grass on the golf course.
The crash is expected to be investigated by US' National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said LA Fire Department spokesman Scott.
The department later tweeted:
The aircraft, used in training in World War II, flies in the mostly-yellow colours of the US Army Air Corps.
Ford, who was photographed with the plane at Santa Monica Airport just a few days ago, is known in the US aviation community as an enthusiastic pilot.
He took his first flying lessons in college but gave up due to lack of money. After becoming an established film star, he took it up again and later owned several planes, from two-seat bush aircraft to corporate jets.
Last June, Ford broke his leg on the set of the new “Star Wars” movie at Pinewood Studios outside London.
In the blockbuster franchise, he returns as smuggler Han Solo.
Mark Hamill will return as Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker and Carrie Fisher, 57, reprises the role of Princess Leia.
Sources: AFP, Twitter
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