“Star Wars” alum Harrison Ford is reportedly in “fair to moderate” condition after his plane crash-landed at the Penmar Golf Course in Venice, California.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department initially identified the crash victim as a “a male approximately 70 years old who at the time was conscious and breathing”.
According to our sources, the 11th district chief of the LA Fire Department, Patrick Butler told the reporters during a press conference that the 72-year-old actor was “initially rescued by some bystanders who were here on the golf course”. No one on the ground was injured, but witnesses reported that Ford was able to walk away from the crash but with scratches on his head. He was later attended by 2 physicians who were on the scene before they transferred him to a local hospital in LA.
“There was blood all over his face,” Howard Tabe, the Penmar Golf Course’s employee told NBC News. “Two very fine doctors were treating him, taking good care of him. I helped put a blanket under his hip.”
Source: NBC News
Ford is said to have crash-landed on the golf course after something went wrong mechanically with the single-engine plane at around 2:25 pm. A woman who lives near the golf course told the reporters on the scene that she witnessed the entire accident while a golfer named Geoff Edwin said he was in the middle of his game when he noticed the plane hovering above the fairway. The woman said the pilot survived and his legs were bleeding when the first responders pulled him from the wreckage.
Erwin told TheWrap that “the engine stalled” and “the plane crashed into the golf course about 10 feet from the fenced-in [perimeter]”. He added that the plane crash-landed with a loud bang.
Butler told the reporters that Ford only suffered “moderate trauma, and he was alert and conscious”. Beatrice Girmala of the LA Police Department said the Federal Aviation Administration is carrying out the investigation and is in communication with the National Transportation Safety Board.
Ford’s son tweeted that he was at a hospital and reported that his father is “battered, but ok”.
At the hospital. Dad is ok. Battered, but ok! He is every bit the man you would think he is. He is an incredibly strong man.
— Chef Ben Ford (@ChefBenFord) March 6, 2015
Thank you all for your thoughts and good vibes for my dad.
— Chef Ben Ford (@ChefBenFord) March 6, 2015
Best known for his roles as the title role in the “Indiana Jones” films, Ford is an avid pilot with a license to fly helicopters and fixed-wing aircrafts. He is a longtime tenant of Santa Monica Airport and filed a federal complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration to keep the airport open last year. The actor had been involved in plenty of plane crashes in the past, but he wasn’t badly injured.
The actor will reprise his role as Han Solo in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015 and he will be seen next in “The Age of Adaline”and “Blade Runner 2″.
(Source: TMZ, Variety, TheWrap, NBC News / Featured image)