Doctor helping downed pilot is shocked to find Harrison Ford

[Lite Beer]

Doctor helping downed pilot is shocked to find Harrison Ford
JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dr. Sanjay Khurana was close to finishing a golf game when a vintage plane clipped a tree and "dropped like a rock" onto the green. He rushed to the crash, finding a pilot bleeding from a deep gash in his head.

When the surgeon got a closer look, he was stunned to see the pilot was Harrison Ford, the actor he grew up watching in the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" movie franchises.

"I'm a child of the '80s," Khurana said Friday. "I'm a big fan."

One of Hollywood's pre-eminent stars, who is also an experienced pilot, crash-landed his World War II-era plane Thursday, but he was conscious and able to talk when witnesses pulled him from the wreckage.

Soon after Ford took off from Santa Monica Municipal Airport near Los Angeles, he radioed that the single engine of his 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR stopped working and he was going to make an immediate return.

Ford, who received his pilot's license in the 1990s, glided his plane onto a fairway near the airport in what aviation experts characterized as a skillful landing given a total loss of power above a densely populated area.

Ford's publicist, Ina Treciokas, said the actor's injuries were "not life-threatening, and he is expected to make a full recovery." Ford's son Ben tweeted Thursday from 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."

No one on the ground was hurt.

It was immediately clear to fellow pilots that Ford did a remarkable job guiding his crippled plane away from homes and, without enough altitude to reach the airport, onto the golf course's relatively flat ground.

"I would say that this is an absolutely beautifully executed — what we would call — a forced or emergency landing," said Christian Fry of the Santa Monica Airport Association.

The fact that a spinal surgeon was playing a round of golf after a morning operation gave the crash-landing its own movie-like quality.

Khurana didn't realize the actor who played Han Solo and Indiana Jones was at the plane's controls until Ford lay about 10 yards (10 meters) from the plane. Fellow golfers who rushed to the pilot's aid helped remove him from the open cockpit, fearing leaking fuel might ignite.

After hitting a tree, the plane "kind of spun a little bit and belly-flopped" with such force it felt like a small earthquake, Khurana said. He estimated it fell "like a rock" about 100 feet (30 meters).

After dropping his clubs and rushing to the plane, Khurana found a bloodied pilot groaning, complaining of pain below his waist and "trying to get a sense of where he was and what had happened."

It took several golfers to hoist Ford away from the wreckage, Khurana said.

"My initial fear was this was going to be one of those very serious, very tragic injuries right away. Fortunately, he was remarkably intact," Khurana said.

As the doctor checked Ford's breathing, circulation and other vitals, Khurana's optimism grew. Then he realized he was treating the man who brought to life heroic characters of his youth.

It didn't take long for paramedics to arrive and for Khurana to reflect on what had happened.

"I don't think I would have ever imagined waking up that morning, that after an early day of surgery, I'd see an airplane crash," he said. "It's a very odd scenario. But I'm glad I could have been of help."

___

Associated Press writer John Antczak contributed to this story.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-03-07

[squarethecircle]

"After hitting a tree, the plane "kind of spun a little bit and belly-flopped" with such force it felt like a small earthquake, Khurana said. He estimated it fell "like a rock" about 100 feet (30 meters)."

Hey, more accurate than the other witness who said it sounded like a car dropped out of the sky.

[Neilly]

[Daniel Ingalls]

Lesson learned...............multi-millionare people should not take such risks flying 60+ year old planes, Remember John Denver?

For me, I want to enjoy my life, but not risks. "Keep your feet on the ground, and yes do reach for the stars......but let someone else do the driving!"

[arend]

Life without risk is not much of a life to me.....not to be critical of your choices however

Edited March 7, 2015 by arend

[recycler]

Lesson learned...............multi-millionare people should not take such risks flying 60+ year old planes, Remember John Denver?

For me, I want to enjoy my life, but not risks. "Keep your feet on the ground, and yes do reach for the stars......but let someone else do the driving!"

And than you come to Thailand ;-)

[joesanunu]

Very lucky to survive after a mechanic failure at low altitude. I read of another crash of an identical plane. A trainer, configured to resemble a larger military aircraft. Not as easy to handle like a typical smaller plane he said. With an engine failure the pilot has to point the nose down to get airspeed and lift right away he says.

That tree he hit first may have slowed him down enough to survive.

[nsimmons]

To Daniel and others that think 70yo movie stars should not be "dangerously" flying around, "lesson learned".
My brother has 3,000 hours in light aircraft over 27 years and I have 50 hours over two years.
He has been a crop duster (yes VERY dangerous), and built his own http://www.searey.com/
and has a flying school using a Jabiru etc. Statistically, it is more dangerous driving
to the airport than any flight you may undertake. (unless badly trained or a big risk taking type)

Aviation has never been safer, now we have GPS, Kevlar, digital cockpit (iPads etc) and ballistic parachutes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_parachute (soon to be in all Light Sport Aircraft)

Even a 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR can be put down safely

with a good pilot. Had he not clipped the tree, he would probably have walked away

with little damage to him or the plane.



I BIG part of all your training is how to do "emergency landings due to engine failure".

He simply did what his training taught him to do.

Cheers,

NS

[Sviss Geez]

Lesson learned...............multi-millionare people should not take such risks flying 60+ year old planes, Remember John Denver?

For me, I want to enjoy my life, but not risks. "Keep your feet on the ground, and yes do reach for the stars......but let someone else do the driving!"

What's the lesson, why should qualified, experienced multi-millionaires not fly planes? Why does affluence come into it?

The John Denver (lack of) connection could hardly be more different. He wasn't even legally permitted to fly at the time of his demise.

[atyclb]

Lesson learned...............multi-millionare people should not take such risks flying 60+ year old planes, Remember John Denver?

For me, I want to enjoy my life, but not risks. "Keep your feet on the ground, and yes do reach for the stars......but let someone else do the driving!"

And than you come to Thailand ;-)

why would they come to thailand, they can/could still get laid in their home countries ?

and perhaps now HF is a great fan of indian food

Edited March 7, 2015 by atyclb

[spidermike007]

Lesson learned...............multi-millionare people should not take such risks flying 60+ year old planes, Remember John Denver?

For me, I want to enjoy my life, but not risks. "Keep your feet on the ground, and yes do reach for the stars......but let someone else do the driving!"

Absolute rubbish. Have you ever heard of the concept of passion? Ford is a very capable as a pilot. He has been flying for years, and owns several planes, and flies helicopters also, which takes a lot of skill. Here is a quote from a flight instructor friend of Ford's:

It turns out Harrison Ford is a "very cautious and capable" pilot!

The A-list actor, who has had a passion for flying for a long time, crashed a small, vintage World War II airplane near Santa Monica Thursday but is said thankfully to be "battered but OK." But now some might wonder if the Star Wars star had enough experience to fly such a fragile plane. Well, it turns out he's more than qualified!

Steve Stafford, Ford's former flight instructor and film stunt pilot who has known the actor for 35 years, tells E! News, "Harrison Ford is a professional pilot in every sense of the term. He is rated in Turbo Jets and Helicopters and participates in factory simulator emergency training on a regular basis."

Stafford, who also produced and directed the documentary Harrison Ford - Just Another Pilot, also says that Ford is such an amazing pilot that he would trust him piloting his loved ones!

[GMajor]

"After hitting a tree, the plane "kind of spun a little bit and belly-flopped" with such force it felt like a small earthquake, Khurana said. He estimated it fell "like a rock" about 100 feet (30 meters)."

Any picture of that 100 footer ? Maybe the Delray Beach Christmas Tree was moved to that Club somehow...

[joesanunu]

Lesson learned...............multi-millionare people should not take such risks flying 60+ year old planes, Remember John Denver?

For me, I want to enjoy my life, but not risks. "Keep your feet on the ground, and yes do reach for the stars......but let someone else do the driving!"

What's the lesson, why should qualified, experienced multi-millionaires not fly planes? Why does affluence come into it?

The John Denver (lack of) connection could hardly be more different. He wasn't even legally permitted to fly at the time of his demise.

Low altitude engine failure. Very similar.

John Denver wasn't permitted to fly because of a lapsed medical certificate. He was a very experienced pilot and owned some awesome planes.

He only had a half hour checkout in his Rutan experimental plane when the fuel ran out in the main tank. The reserve fuel tank switch was not mounted in the correct position and Denver could not physical switch tanks in flight. Ooops.

Earlier he even attached a vise grip to that stupidly mounted fuel switch to asset him but.....The plane took a dive when he was desperatly fumbling around.

He was messed up in the crash and could not even use his dental records to identify him.

[nsimmons]

In defense of John Denver, he was technically not current, but purely just bureaucracy.

His father was a flying instructor with the Airforce and John was a very experienced pilot...

On October 12, 1997, Denver was killed at the age of 53 when his experimental Rutan Long-EZ plane, aircraft registration number N555JD, crashed into Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California, while making a series of touch-and-go landings at the nearby Monterey Peninsula Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board Denver was the only occupant of the aircraft. As the crash badly disfigured Denver's head and body, making identification by dental records impossible, records of his fingerprints were used to confirm that the fallen pilot was indeed the singer.
A pilot with over 2,700 hours of experience, Denver had pilot license ratings for single-engine land and sea, multi-engine land, glider, and instruments. He also held a type rating for his Learjet. He had recently purchased the Long-EZ aircraft and had taken a half-hour checkout flight with the aircraft the day before the accident.
In 1996, nearly a year before the accident, the Federal Aviation Administration had learned of Denver's failure to abstain entirely from alcohol after his drunk driving arrests and had previously revoked his medical certification. Since Denver was required by the FAA to have at least a third-class medical certification to exercise the privileges of his pilot certificate, he was not legally permitted to fly at the time of the accident. However, there was no trace of alcohol or other drugs in Denver's body at autopsy.
Post-accident investigation by the NTSB showed that the leading cause of the accident was Denver's inability to execute safely a switch of fuel tanks in flight. The quantity of fuel had been depleted during the plane's transfer to Monterey and in several brief practice takeoffs and landings performed by Denver at the airport immediately prior to the final flight. His newly purchased experimental Rutan had an unusual fuel selector valve handle configuration. Intended by the plane's designer to be located between the pilot's legs, the fuel selector had instead been placed by the plane's builder behind the left shoulder of the pilot, with the fuel gauge also behind the pilot's seat and thus not visible to the person at the controls. An NTSB interview with the aircraft mechanic servicing Denver's plane revealed that he and Denver had discussed the inaccessibility of the cockpit fuel selector valve handle and its resistance to being turned.
Before the flight, Denver and the mechanic had attempted to extend the reach of the handle, using a pair of Vise-Grip pliers. However, this did not solve the problem, as the pilot could still not reach the handle while strapped into his seat. NTSB investigators' post-accident investigation showed that given the positioning of the fuel selector valves, switching the craft's fuel tanks required a pilot to turn his body 90 degrees to reach the valve. This created a natural tendency to extend one's right foot against the right rudder pedal to support oneself while turning in the seat, causing the aircraft to yaw (move off course) and pitch up.

According to the mechanic, after he had noted to Denver that the fuel sight gauges were visible only to the rear cockpit occupant, Denver asked him about the quantity of fuel shown. The mechanic told Denver that he had "less than half in the right tank and less than a quarter in the left tank". The mechanic then provided Denver with an inspection mirror so that he could look over his shoulder at the fuel sight gauges; the mirror was later recovered in the wreckage. Denver told the mechanic that he would use the autopilot inflight, if necessary, to hold the airplane level while he turned the fuel selector valve. Denver declined an offer to take on additional fuel, telling the mechanic that he would only be flying for about one hour.

The NTSB interviewed 20 witnesses of Denver's last flight; six of them had observed the plane's crash into the ocean near Point Pinos. Four of the witnesses indicated that the airplane was originally heading west; five of them observed the airplane in a steep bank, with four of those five reporting the bank was to the right (north). Twelve witnesses saw the airplane in a steep nose-down descent. Witnesses estimated the plane's height at 350 to 500 feet while heading toward the shoreline. Eight of the witnesses said that they heard a "pop" or "backfire", along with a reduction in the engine noise level just before the airplane descended into the water.
The NTSB determined that, in addition to Denver's failure to refuel the plane prior to takeoff and his subsequent loss of control while attempting to switch fuel tanks, there were several key contributing factors. Primary among these were the pilot's inadequate transition training on this type of aircraft, and the plane's builder's decision to locate the unmarked fuel selector handle in a hard-to-access position.

======

It is easy after the event to point out his mistakes. Why not be much higher when screwing around with the fuel valve?

Why not take more fuel if the valve is hard to use? etc

I would put this down to over confidence after many years of safe flying, but on that day he was impatient and lowered his well trained standards.

RIP John, "it is better to burn out than to fade away" - Neil Young

IE