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Harrison Ford crashes his plane


Jeff Wexler

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Harrison Ford is in critical condition after crash landing a plane in Venice, Calif. on Thursday, according to several reports.

The 72-year-old crash landed on Penmar Golf Course after something apparently went wrong mechanically with the single-engine plane at around 2:25 p.m. Ford was transferred to a local hospital in critical condition with head injuries. The actor was the only one aboard the plane and the only person who sustained injuries.

Ford reportedly walked away from the crash, and was later attended to by two physicians who were on the scene.

“There was blood all over his face,” Howard Tabe, an employee at the Penmar Golf Course, told NBC News. “Two very fine doctors were treating him, taking good care of him. I helped put a blanket under his hip.”

Ford is an avid pilot, and has crashed planes before with minimal injuries.

 
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The latest on Harrison's condition (his son tweeted):

 

Chef Ben Ford
‏@ChefBenFord
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.

 

 

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.

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I think the rush to reporting is making it read very strange. They all talk about how Harrison Ford is 72 and crashed "a small plane", but I'm pretty sure that plane is at least 72 years old as well. It is (or is looks like) a WWII plane, and is painted as such. 

Definitely a really cool plane, but by comparison how often do you see people using a 1930s car as a daily driver? Even if it's in tip top mechanical shape..... it's from the 1930s! Very cool indeed, hope he has a quick recovery. 

 

TMZ had some footage of Ford taking off in the same plane about 2 years ago if you scroll down that link. Kind of amazing what people flew into combat back then. No wonder a lot of them came home and got motorcycles. There was no car that could compare to the raw power of something like that. 

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Will be interesting to watch this as details unfold. Of course, the best is wished to Mr. Ford, and condolences for his injuries.

 

But there has been the usual journalistic ridiculousness in reporting this crash, due to both the predisposition to sensationalize anything having to do with aviation, and an amazing lack of expertise with aviation, starting with the claim that the Ryan PT22 was a "fighter plane" (it was a 1940s Primary Trainer airplane). Among the typical phrases of "perfectly executed", "cool as a cucumber" (but actually sounded frantic), "avoiding populated areas", what was left out, but probably asked by every experienced pilot (Mr. Ford would have asked the same things, I'm sure) are "Why did the engine fail... Fuel starvation? Improper maintenance? Engine parts fatigue? Pilot error (the pilot is in charge of the mechanical readiness and proper fuel system and engine settings of the airplane)?" Also, and this is the big one, "Why did he attempt to return to the airport?"

 

Returning to the airport after a take-off engine failure is a classic trap that every pilot is aware of, yet many fall into anyway. I've lost a couple of fellow pilot friends to this trap. The commonly accepted action after a single-engine takeoff engine failure (even in many twin-engine airplanes) is to land straight ahead in the softest, least expensive spot available. It would have seemed that this may be what Mr. Ford tried to do, except that he told the tower he intended to return to the airport. The question that will eventually be asked is whether the outcome would have been better if he had resisted the temptation to return to the airport and just planned to pick the best spot at the golf course. It seems that this approach would have reduced the chances of hitting the trees, and increased the chance of safe rollout. Pilots are constantly aware of places to ditch in the event of power failure, and the golf course is well known by Santa Monica airport pilots as an obvious "soft and inexpensive" nearby place to ditch.

 

gt

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