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Actor Harrison Ford Injured In Plane Crash; Son Says He's OK

Actor Harrison Ford attends the 12th Annual "Living Legends of Aviation" at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on in January.
Alberto E. Rodriguez
/
Getty Images
Actor Harrison Ford attends the 12th Annual "Living Legends of Aviation" at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on in January.

The actor Harrison Ford crash-landed a small vintage plane on a golf course in the Los Angeles area on Thursday, TMZ, the Los Angeles Times and Variety are reporting.

The Times reports that Ford was taken from the scene by ambulance.

During a televised press briefing, Asst. Chief Patrick Butler, of the Los Angeles Fire Department, said the man on the plane suffered "moderate trauma" but was "alert and conscious."

TMZ, which obtained audio from a dispatch Ford made to a control tower, reports Ford reported engine failure and requested "an emergency return to the airport."

Variety reports that Ford is in "fair to moderate condition."

NBC News reports:

"The plane clipped some tree branches and crashed on the golf course shortly after takeoff from Santa Monica Airport, Butler said. An eyewitness, Howard Tabe, an employee at Penmar Golf Course, said he put a blanket under Ford's hip.

"'There was blood all over his face,' Tabe said. 'Two very fine doctors were treating him, taking good care of him.'"

Ford is best known for his role as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark and as Han Solo in the Stars Wars trilogy.

NPR's Russell Lewis tells us that Ford is also "a highly-skilled and highly-rated pilot. He's qualified to fly single and twin engine planes, sea planes, helicopters and he's also an instrument-rated pilot."

Update at 8:24 p.m. ET. Ford Is 'Battered, But OK":

Ben Ford, Harrison Ford's son, tweeted that his dad is OK:

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.