Harrison Ford’s Plane Crashes and Aviation Heroics

Harrison Ford has had his share of past accidents as an aviator. He once severely hurt his ankle and also went down alongside an instructor in a helicopter. The latest mishap involved a WWII aircraft that took a nosedive for the worst. Yet Ford managed to make it out alive and well in the end.

Harrison Ford  is a very famous actor who has appeared in such movies as Star Wars as Hans Solo and The Indiana Jones series. He also was a part of films such as The Fugitive and Apocalypse Now.

The man is versatile and a tough guy as is evident from his male machismo roles. He is a lifelong Democrat and friend of President Bill Clinton too. But one thing which Ford is especially known for is his piloting skills.

He is an aviator though just the opposite of Howard Hughes. He is outgoing and has a healthy mentality and doesn’t prefer to spend his last days on earth in a humid cloistered quarantine existence.

Harrison Ford has a son who is a chef and restaurant owner. His name is Ben. And he has two ex-wives besides a mistress whom he later on married. This was a lady much younger than him and she was none other than Calista Flockhart who played Ally McBeal on television.  

In his past movies he has often played a pilot which he is in real life too in the same manner as John Travolta. And since Ford is an adventurous and fearless fellow, he has been in more than one too many accidents.

At the turn of the millennium, he was in a Bell 206 helicopter and there was an instructor sitting besides him. They had to make an emergency landing and although they emerged unscathed from the mishap, when Ford was asked about it later on he said that he had “broken it” meaning the helicopter.

“On 23 October 1999, Ford was on a training flight in a Bell 206 helicopter when he and the instructor made an emergency landing in a dry riverbed near Santa Clarita, CA. Although the helicopter rolled over on its left side, neither Ford or the instructor were injured,” the NTSB stated after that pane crash.

Harrison Ford has often said that he owns a retinue of aircraft and motorcycles and employs them for anything from a small trip to get a cheeseburger all the way to long journeys from here to there and back.

“Flying is like good music: it elevates the spirit and it’s an exhilarating freedom. It’s not a thrill thing or an adrenaline rush; it’s engaging in a process that takes focus and commitment. I love the machines, I love the aviation community,” Ford told DailyMail in 2010.

He is in show business for the dollars and cents he gets as a result of his efforts though. Money keeps him sane and also is a source of at-one-ment. But that does not mean that Ford does not have his humanitarian and altruistic side. He has donated half of his 800 acre ranch as a Nature reserve. And he once even rescued a dehydrated hiker in his Bell 407 helicopter.  

One of the richest and most influential men in Hollywood, Ford is worth a colossal $300 million. Everyone can remember him from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Blade Runner. Ford realized a long time ago that the higher you charge as an actor, the more you were respected in the end. But he also works hard on the script and gives it all he’s got.

He however laments the loss of privacy that is a side effect of fame. Ford is often known for the earring he has on one of his ears. But one thing the money and experience has been helpful in is allowing him the time and space to indulge in the one passion of his life: flying.

“I was so identified with what I did for a living, and I enjoy it, have respect for it, and love the freedom and responsibility that acting provides,” Ford told Downwind magazine in 1999. “However, flying gave me the opportunity to create an identity other than Harrison Ford, the actor.”

He owns a jet airplane as well as a bush plane. And of course there is the Bell helicopter to boot. And with a long line of BMWs, Hondas and Harley Davidsons, Ford sure does remain young at heart. So what is he is more than 70 years of age. He is still a daredevil and agent provocateur to the core. 

“It’s not so much the thrill as much as it is the satisfaction of learning a new skill. I wasn’t even sure I was capable of learning anymore,” Ford told People in 1998. “I really like the responsibilities of flying. I like the places you go, the people you meet, the views you see … It’s where I feel engaged and comfortable and free. It’s become a big part of my life.”

Ford has often talked about his crashes and says that he takes them lightly. No sweat! And he also is a great Nature lover. The sight of wild animals in a natural green setting drives him wild with joy.

Ford admits that he has a dark side though. He has the capability of seriously harming anyone who tries to do him some damage. Maybe it is this streak of cruelty that has made him accident prone too. It might be his subconscious working overtime to fulfill a death wish of sorts.

By the way, he is an admirer of Prince Charles too. A well-rounded man, this Harrison Ford definitely is. One of the interesting things is that in the recent accident which took place the manufacturing date and birth date of the aircraft and Ford is one and the same respectively. It happens to be
1942.

Ford has spoken previously about the feeling of making music and freedom that flying lends the individual. Among some of the past incidents and accidents that Ford has been in /4/be included: his car crashing into a telephone pole and a plane emergency landing in Nebraska that damaged the wings. The most recent one involved his ankle injured
during the filming of Star Wars sequel.   

Ford has lived the good life of exhilaration and adventure alright. He said that it is not just for thrills but for the sake of learning a new set of skills that he flies aircraft. And he does not fear the consequences one bit. He’s been lucky though since anyone else in his place would have been frightened of the accidents and backed off from flying.

Now his son and wife also share his hobby. They too are learning to fly. As for Ford, in his case it is literally an example of life imitating art. He played a daring and bold character on screen and now he has shown it in real life too.

He suffered an ugly gash to the head in his latest accident and also had several lacerations on his arms. Yet he managed to remain semi-conscious when the paramedics got there to administer first aid to his wounds. Ford is “battered but OK” after the recent plane crash on golf course. And he has also “saved several lives” in current crash as he avoided crashing in populated area.

His latest accident /4/have proven costly and life-threatening had a golf course not been within reach of Santa Monica airport. Yet he is Harrison Ford, the veteran actor and brave pilot of many aircraft, who can take the good with the bad. He has attitude and the resilience of a man in a man’s world. Two cheers for this guy!

Currently, he is recovering from his wounds in a hospital and we would like to wish him a speedy convalescence.

Get well soon, Harrison Ford!