Harrison Ford underwent surgery to repair a broken ankle and pelvis following his death-defying...

[Demeter]

Source: NDTV

The condition of Star Wars actor Harrison Ford, who sustained injuries while crash-landing his small plane, is stable now...

Mr Ford, 72, was the only person on board the craft. An LAPD spokeswoman confirmed the actor is in stable condition. He underwent surgery to repair a broken ankle and pelvis following his death-defying plane crash in California on March 6...Santa Monica City Commissioner Phil Brock said the star sustained a head injury...

This is not the first time Mr Ford, an experienced pilot, has been in a plane crash. His six-passenger plane took a hard landing in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the summer of 2000, but the actor was not hurt.

Mr Ford also crash-landed a helicopter in October 1999 while he was practising emergency landings with a flight instructor. This accident comes month after the actor suffered a broken leg on the set of the upcoming Star Wars movie while shooting in England.

Read more: http://movies.ndtv.com/hollywood/harrison-fords-condition-stable-now-744822

[titaniumsalute]

1. Glad he's OK

As a pilot though...I'd probably hang up my David Clarks at this point. 3 times? Phew. Too many for me.

[JohnnyRingo]

20. Amusing how he gets credit for not crashing into a house.

Like it was nerves of steel that had him point the nose toward a golf course instead of self preservation. If anything, it was smart flying under pressure, and I'll laud him for that.

Years ago I was in my brother in law's old T-Craft at about 1,000 AGL when the engine quit. There was a mowed cornfield to our left, but there's nothing more panic inducing than that sudden silence with only the rush of wind to cover the sound of wet flatulence. One could say we were brave not to try to cross the lake back to the airport, but that bumpy field had our survival written all over it like a crop circle. Still, I tightened my belt three times until it hurt.

I believe finding an emergency field is a pilot's first order of business in such a situation, and Ford nailed it.

[calikid]

23. "cover the sound of wet flatulence" I love it

Finding a landing spot in an in flight emergency is one of the big things they drill into you during flight training.

[titaniumsalute]

39. Absolutely

It is so ingrained in your head to locate an open landing area. I do applaud him for that. He was at 3,000 but I really have no idea what kind of glide path one of those old trainers have.

[Helen Borg]

2. He should not be flying solo...

[CTyankee]

3. No, at that age the risk of sudden stroke is higher and you have to consider what

would happen if you crashed into a populated area because you had passed out...

[Kelvin Mace]

10. If you Luke real hard,

you'll see that was a joke.

[CTyankee]

12. Yup, but he still shouldn't be flying solo...so what, buddy?

[JohnnyRingo]

22. Yearly medical exams usually keep that issue at a minimum.

They're FAA required for GA pilots, and a lot of pilots continue to safely fly into "retirement age". John Kerry is the same age, and I'm pretty sure he's fit to fly his private plane as well. Certainly his doctor thinks so.

If one has to quit flying at a certain age for safety's sake, it stands to reason they must quit driving as well. As a percentage, fatal car accidents are far more likely than general aviation. They just don't get national attention like an airplane crash.

This unfortunate incident is getting a lot more hand wringing than it deserves.

[CTyankee]

26. Good. Glad to hear that. I still think there is a point where you move on...

and not invoke that "do not go gentle into that goodnight" stuff...

I'm dealing now every day with a disabled husband who most certainly did not want to stop doing what he did. But starting at age 73 it became obvious that there WERE limitations. That is difficult to deal with.

I am just glad he wasn't piloting a plane when his problems surfaced...

[dolphinsandtuna]

37. Nonsense, CTyankee

I'm his age and I'm perfectly medically and mentally competent, and also a pilot. Ageism strikes again on DU.

Just because your husband is disabled does not mean the rest of the world is.

[CTyankee]

38. Heh. Well, I'm 75 and I know what limits have been age imposed on me and my 74 yr old spouse.

now, lemme see, I'll try to figure out where you got the idea that I think everybody is disabled because my husband is. His disability is largely brought on by age...at least that's what his neurosurgeon tells me -- or told me. That doc at age 63 had to retire due to a sudden combined heart attack/stroke. He was a great guy...got my husband ambulatory and doing well so that while he was rehabbing I was able to get the house rehabbed for handicap accessibility. I'm sure that doc wasn't planning to retire quite so soon.

Osteo arthritis became my condition a few years ago and I didn't do anything except get old, even tho I can't remember anybody in my immediate family that had it. My rheumatologist gives me injections every so many months so I can experience less pain...I have a milder case just in my lower spine and do daily exercizes prescribed by a physical therapist.

Meh, just a part of our lives now. Technically, everybody has "some" disability issues which surely you know. Age doesn't help most of them.

[dolphinsandtuna]

40. you're generalizing from yourself and your husband to millions of people.

My brother runs several miles a day and runs an accounting firm. Poor guy, I guess he is really disabled.

Ageism is bigotry.

[CTyankee]

41. I will agree that ageism is bigotry. Who is arguing with that?

I could point to discrimination against persons with disabilities. We have laws that were written to give the disabled and older persons some protection against prejudice but we know that such prejudice exists, just as racism and sexism exist despite major legislation and attempts to win hearts and minds.

I have had a major life experience with ageism, btw. At age 65 there was an attempt to get me out of my job at the top of my career, pay wise. It was ageism pure and simple. I had a consultation with a labor lawyer who told me my experience was very typical. However, I didn't want to incur lots of attorneys fees and announced my intention to retire 6 months later. I knew I would start taking my SS and I lined up a part time job after retirement. It had been a brutal time in my life and the pressure was terrible. But I made a smart move: I told my co-workers that I was retiring, so if I had been fired before my retirement date it would have looked awful for my boss. Sure enough, every woman in their sixties on the staff left due to "restructuring" within two years and were replaced by younger (less expensive) hires.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Rimshot

[CTyankee]

13. And...???

I still think he shouldn't be flying solo. Deposit it.

[AtheistCrusader]

18. Han Solo. is joke.

What else shouldn't he be doing? Driving a car? That's a lot of mass and velocity to be be-bopping around in. Could take out a school bus. Lets just take away his keys to everything.

[CTyankee]

27. reductio ad absurdum...

[AtheistCrusader]

28. Not really.

A plane of that size can't do much more damage than a large auto, like a truck.

If he was flying a 747 full of people, medical issues become a bit more relevant.

[Arugula Latte]

47. Why doesn't 'ewok wherever he needs to go?

[beevul]

49. Indeed, just find a hutt within walker range and settle down.

Then people will stop having a fett and armchair quarterbacking his lando.

[Arugula Latte]

52. Exactly. Yo'da man.

Or woman, as the case may be.

[MuseRider]

6. That was a good one! n/t

[underpants]

7. Fly yes. Land no.

-Yoda

[Kelvin Mace]

11. Well, Lando probably could pulled it off

If he had Tarkin his time.

[lastlib]

46. Ah, don't worry, Helen, he's an Old Han at it....

Well, I guess now he'll have a couple of months to just Leia round and recuperate.

[louis-t]

51. Uh, hee, uh...huh?

Or flying Solo? ZINGGG!

[PeteSelman]

4. Crash landing planes on golf courses ain't like dusting crops boy.

Don't get cocky.

[zonkers]

8. Close Santa Monica airport. Indulgent rich folks have no right flying 75 yr old planes over densely

populated areas.

[JohnnyRingo]

15. Unlike the poverty stricken private pilots?

I'm kidding, I know what you meant, but flying is much safer than you give credit for. The fact that this trainer was 75 years old has nothing to do with it's safe operation. Yearly inspections and a meticulous flying log means that problems will usually be discovered before they cause failure. Engines must be rebuilt by a qualified A&P mechanic within a specific number of hours.

Anything mechanical has a possibility to fail as we saw here, but the FAA takes few chances when it comes to vintage aircraft such as this Ryan. Pilot error causes many more times the accidents than than airframes. Closing all airfields that are close to any communities is a ridiculous proposal. Almost all of them are located near one.

Ford is being lauded for avoiding an accident in the neighborhood, but he was just following protocol. In the case of engine problems, pilots are instructed to immediately begin looking for a place to safely land before trying to make it back to the airport, and golf courses are ideal candidates. Had the engine continued to run, Ford would have cautiously headed back to the airport while constantly keeping an emergency landing area in sight. While pilots are credited with saving lives by not crashing into houses, self preservation is an overwhelming factor in choosing a crash site.

As for railing against the 1% for playing with their dangerous toys, I have hourly job friends who own such vintage planes. They devote all they have to the interest, but they aren't rich. I don't know where this meme against this particular airport began, but it's shortsighted and born of sheer ignorance of general aviation.

[Capt.Rocky300]

33. Excellent job of imparting knowledge to the folks...

who have no real familiarity with aviation, just the BS they see in movies, tv and the news which is overly dramatized.

[Demeter]

9. What I'd like to know is why I had to get the news from a Movie Mag from India

It took some ingenuity to word the search so that something--anything--came up that wasn't 2 days old or irrelevant.

[Hekate]

25. Today's Los Angeles Times has a very comprehensive article, Section B (California), Page 1...

It did happen in Los Angeles, after all. Google can be weird, but I'm surprised the LAT didn't pop up.

The article has any number of quotes from flight instructors, pilots, and other experts in the field, all praising Ford to the skies (so to speak) for his quick thinking, quick reflexes, and textbook landing.

He did everything right as soon as he realized he was having engine problems. Pilots are taught how to locate relatively safe and open spots when they can't get back to the airport -- over the decades several small planes have come down on that golf course. As opposed to landing on the housing tracts in the vicinity, right?

The fighter jet pilot that crashed near my elementary school in 1955(?) chose the playground. About a dozen jr. high schoolers who were out there died, along with the pilot, but as horrifying as that was, everyone acknowledged that had he not guided it to that open spot, many more would have died that day.

Here's hoping for a full recovery for Harrison Ford, though at some point he might acknowledge his Indiana Jones days are over!

[Joe Johns]

14. TYT's Take

[Demeter]

17. Wretched idiots

[calikid]

24. You're right I couldn't watch the whole thing. n/t

[backscatter712]

16. Nice try, Lao Che!

Seriously, Harrison Ford's had some bad luck with injuries and such this year. He'd just recovered from a previous broken ankle he suffered on the set of the new Star Wars movie.

Fortunately, it looks like he's gonna make a full recovery.

[jakeXT]

19. They Got Us

[C Moon]

21. Ouch. That sounds painful. Get well!

[catnhatnh]

29. For those complaining about the airport in a congested residential area..,.

that airport has been there since 1917 though the area was much more rural then. The residential build up was fueled when Douglas Aircraft built a factory there and housing was built for the workers, transforming the neighborhood. If you build a house to be close to an airport, even if it is sold to someone else, you cannot then complain that an airport is too close to your house...

[whistler162]

31. Don't spoil NIMBY's fun!

[CTyankee]

42. my daughter lives near the Burbank airport and when I visit I always know when to

wake up every morning because the planes start flying in and out.

[Nye Bevan]

30. I just don't get the appeal of being a private pilot.

Surely he can afford to ride in a luxury private jet piloted by an expert?

But then again, whenever a rich person is arrested for DUI I always ask why they don't just have a permanent chauffeur driving them in a luxury limo.

[uppityperson]

34. Really? flying, being a pilot is a lot of fun. You want to deny the pleasure because he can afford

to hire someone? Some of us like to fly, like to pilot small planes (or larger) because we like to. Being in the sky, looking up down all around, like a noisy smelly metal bird, being free to move in 3 dimensions is wonderful.

[Nye Bevan]

35. No, I don't want to deny that to anybody.

I just don't understand the appeal.

[uppityperson]

36. I started flying after skydiving for a couple years, decided I should learn how to fly and land

without being afraid of the ground. I like the combination of control and freedom from gravity, as it is.

The one thing I have left to do is go in a glider. To have the silence would be wonderful!

[RebelOne]

50. I was skydiving, but after 6 jumps,

I decided it was safer to stay in the plane. So I learned to fly it.

[whistler162]

32. The guy is giving Evil Knievel

a run for his money.

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/indiana-bones-a-guide-to-the-injuries-of-harrison-ford-88595491487.html a short but incomplete list.

[truthisfreedom]

43. If I was Harrison...

I'd quit while I was ahead. It's annoying to break bones and much more annoying to be older and breaking bones.

[Demeter]

44. It's a free country

[QED]

45. I wonder if they put him on ice

[Major Hogwash]

48. He's lucky to be alive.

But, breaking his pelvis is going to keep him grounded for a long time.