FAA Investigating Actor Harrison Ford After Incident At Hawthorne Municipal Airport
HAWTHORNE (CBSLA) — The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that it was investigating another piloting incident involving actor Harrison Ford which occurred last week.
According to the FAA, Ford crossed an airplane on a runway despite a tower operator telling him to hold short due to traffic.
An official with the FAA said that on the afternoon of April 24, Ford landed an Aviat Husky on the runway at the Hawthorne Municipal Airport, located at 12101 Crenshaw Blvd.
The actor then crossed the aircraft to the western end of the runway while another pilot, who was conducting touch-and-go landings, was taking off about 3,600 feet east, the official said.
There was no danger of a crash, according to the FAA official, but the tower operator was alarmed since Ford made the maneuver after the operator said, "Can you hold short on runway? Traffic on runway."
According to audio of the exchange, Ford said he was "terribly sorry," for the misunderstanding.
A representative for the 77-year-old actor released the following statement about the incident:
"Actor and pilot Harrison Ford was involved in a runway incursion April 24th at the Hawthorne Airport. Mr. Ford crossed the airport's only runway in his aircraft after he misheard a radio instruction from ATC. He immediately acknowledged the mistake and apologized to ATC for the error. The purpose of the flight was to maintain currency and proficiency in the aircraft. No one was injured and there was never any danger of a collision."
The FAA previously investigated Ford in 2017 after he landed his private plane too close to a passenger jet at John Wayne Airport, though Ford did not face any administrative penalties or disciplinary actions as a result of the investigation.
In 2015, Ford was injured when a plane he was flying crashed on a Santa Monica golf course.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
