A vintage airplane piloted by "Star Wars" actor Harrison Ford lost engine power after takeoff, leading to a forced landing last week on a Southern California golf course, according to a preliminary report issued Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The report confirms previous accounts of Thursday's crash landing at Penmar Golf Club that left the 72-year-old Ford hospitalized. Details regarding why the single-engine World War II vintage plane lost power after taking off from Santa Monica Municipal Airport were not included in the preliminary report.
A final report could take months to complete.
The pilot of the Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR, registered to MG Aviation Inc., reported engine failure after takeoff and turned back toward the airport, according to the NTSB.
"The airplane subsequently struck the top of a tall tree prior to impacting the ground in an open area of a golf course, about 800 feet southwest of the approach end of runway 3," the NTSB said in a statement Tuesday.
Ford's injuries were non-life threatening, his publicist said.
Ford received his pilot's license in the 1990s. In 2001, he rescued a missing Boy Scout with his helicopter. Nearly a year before, he rescued an ailing mountain climber in Jackson, Wyoming. In 2000 in Lincoln, Nebraska, a gust of wind sent a six-seat plane Ford was piloting off the runway. He and his passenger were not injured.
