It was yet another near miss for veteran Hollywood actor Harrison Ford when his single-engine Husky plane nearly crashed into a Boeing 737. The incident happened at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, and the Boeing was American Airline flight 1546 with 100 passengers on board apart from six crew members.
Accidents follow Ford
Harrison Ford (74) had been involved in an earlier incident in 2015 when he was forced to crash-land a World War II-era airplane following an engine failure. He suffered injuries to his head and also got a broken arm after crash landing into a Santa Monica golf course.
Before that, he had crash-landed a helicopter in 1999 and had to resort to an emergency landing the next year – the aircraft was a Beechcraft Bonanza and another near miss.
Apart from his incidents with the Flying Machines, the accident-prone actor got himself injured on the ground during the filming of the Hollywood movie 'Star Wars: Episode VII' – he fractured his leg when the door of the Falcon spacecraft fell on it.
Harrison Ford, the flier
He took up flying when he was 52 has an impressive collection of aircraft which he parks at the Santa Monica Airport. He is too old to fly any commercial aircraft because of the mandatory retirement age of 65 and Ford is 74. However, there is no age restriction specified by FAA for private pilots provided they are medically fit to fly – for this, pilots over 40 must clear medical exams once every two years instead of every five to eliminate possibilities of any near miss.
To say that Harrison Ford is passionate about flying would be an understatement. As he once admitted in 2010, he would often fly up the coast for a cheeseburger. He has a ranch in Wyoming and uses his helicopter to extend assistance to Search and Rescue crews and help locate hikers who go missing.
Aftereffects of Ford’s latest near miss
The Federal Aviation Administration must investigate every such incident. In this case, Harrison Ford had been given specific instructions by the control tower to land on the runway because landing on a taxiway is a violation of safety.
As per procedure, the pilot must read back the instructions which Ford did. In spite of that, the Hollywood veteran ended up aiming for the taxiway. FAA can, now, issue a warning letter to Ford or seize his license.
