Harrison Ford's emergency landing reveals crack action-man flying skills

Harrison Ford called air traffic control moments before he made a controlled emergency crash-landing on a California golf course. Photo / AP

True to the heroes he plays on the big screen, a calm and collected Harrison Ford glided his aeroplane into a crash landing on a Venice, California golf course yesterday.

Moments before the crash, in audio of his conversation with air traffic control, an unemotional Ford can be heard asking for an emergency landing because his engine had failed.

The 72-year-old actor who has been a licensed pilot for nearly two decades, wasn't going to be able to make the runway at Santa Monica Airport so he picked a long green at the nearby Penmar golf course to land out of the way of the congested neighbourhood.

While Ford was rushed from the scene bleeding heavily from a head wound, his injuries were described only as moderate and he is expected to make a full recovery.

"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," his son Ben Ford tweeted just two hours after the crash. "Thank you all for your thoughts and good vibes for my dad."

The fact that Ford escaped the crash with just a few injuries is not surprising to those who have flown with him.

Ford first started flying in the 1960s, but didn't have the money or time for regular lessons until later in life - becoming a licensed pilot in 1996.

"Harrison's been a great pilot. You can see by the fact that he survived this forced landing that he is a skilled aviator," Paul Mitton, who produced a documentary about Ford's love of flying, told CNN.

"Just looking at the crash site, you see the trees nearby, there's a tree not too far behind the aircraft.

"Had the wing clipped that, the airplane could have spun around, he could have been ejected, he could have ended up upside down. That would have been bad," Mitton added.

Aviation expert Rick Dake told People that Ford's landing was amazing considering the unforgiving nature of the World War II-era plane.

"Everything he did was perfect," Dake, of Aviation Consulting Experts, told People.

He says less experienced pilots training on the plane during World War II would often crash because the plane tended to flip when the engine fails.

"That alone is testament to the great ability Harrison Ford had. He made a 180-degree turn with the engine seizing up on him. He almost made it to the runway," Dake said.

"He was able to keep that plane away from the houses and land it with the least impact on the community. That was the best place he could have landed it.

"He was 100 per cent doing exactly what an excellent aviator would do."

The crash happened shortly after Ford took off from Santa Monica Airport alone in the two-seater vintage aeroplane.

After take-off Ford called back to to the air traffic control tower, saying his engine had unexpectedly died and he needed clearance to land.

The air traffic controllers gave Ford permission to return to the runway - but the actor's plane couldn't make the journey. Instead he glided the plane down on to the green.

Golf course employee Howard Tabe told NBC News: "There was blood all over his face ... Two very fine doctors were treating him, taking good care of him."

- Daily Mail