Author Topic: Not CL Harrison Ford crashes plane on golf course (Read 24064 times)

mike londke · « **on:** March 05, 2015, 05:16:24 PM »

http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/harrison-ford-injured-in-plane-crash-march-2015/

Tim Wescott · « **Reply #1 on:** March 05, 2015, 05:21:18 PM »

Ouch. I hope he gets better.

Dan McEntee · « **Reply #2 on:** March 05, 2015, 05:35:26 PM »

I've seen pictures of him taxiing in what looks like a really nice Ryan PT-22. Naturally the media is calling it all sorts of other things instead of waiting for solid information to become available. Another blurb I read said he has been a pilot for years and "has crashed a lot" !!! I'll bet he would love to read that quote! He was chairman of the Young Eagles program at EAA for a number of years, but we never did get to see or meet him. From what I have read he's a competant pilot. The picture of the airplane on the golf course shows it to me in one big by wrinkled piece, and he was "alert" when EMT's arrived. There were two doctors on the golf course (Imagine that!) that got to him first. At least no one on the ground was injured and sounds like he more or less walked away with some cuts on his face and head. Fix up the Ryan and have a go at it again!
Good luck to him,
Dan McEntee

John Stiles · « **Reply #3 on:** March 05, 2015, 05:41:41 PM »

Looks like a Stearman Kaydet to me.

Steve_Pollock · « **Reply #4 on:** March 05, 2015, 05:52:13 PM »

It was a PT-22. The Kinner 5-cylinder engine is easy to spot, and there's no struts on the wing. Press picture attached.

FLOYD CARTER · « **Reply #5 on:** March 05, 2015, 06:03:38 PM »

I've restored several planes, but not one that bad. The PT-22 looks like a write-off.

Floyd

John Stiles · « **Reply #6 on:** March 05, 2015, 06:12:17 PM »

Quote from: Stephen_Pollock on March 05, 2015, 05:52:13 PM

It was a PT-22. The Kinner 5-cylinder engine is easy to spot, and there's no struts on the wing. Press picture attached.

My bad, my page was tagged wrong....Ryan PT-22 is correct of course

Steve Fitton · « **Reply #7 on:** March 05, 2015, 07:12:11 PM »

Quote from: FLOYD CARTER on March 05, 2015, 06:03:38 PM

I've restored several planes, but not one that bad. The PT-22 looks like a write-off.

Floyd

Nonsense. I bet Banjock could put it back together in no time!

Steve Helmick · « **Reply #8 on:** March 05, 2015, 07:24:12 PM »

A few scratches won't stop Indiana Jones! I hope he didn't get his whip tangled into the rudder pedals. Too bad about that PT-22. I'm sure some museum will restore it and put it on display with aluminum paint over the Bondo.

Steve

Mike Keville · « **Reply #9 on:** March 05, 2015, 07:28:21 PM »

TV's "talking heads" are going nuts, as usual - most of whom have no idea what they're talking about.

Dan McEntee · « **Reply #10 on:** March 05, 2015, 07:51:49 PM »

I can't find the pics of him taxiing in the plane now. He was wearing one of the new flying helmets that look like a vintage leather helmet. The airplane looked awsome! beautiful polished fuselage and yellow wings does it to me every time! I love the Ryans, any version!
I think it can be rebuilt, all it takes is money and I think he's got a few bucks in the bank. Whole airplanes have been "restored" around no more than a name plate and a control stick. I hope he does.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee

wwwarbird · « **Reply #11 on:** March 05, 2015, 08:09:04 PM »

Quote from: FLOYD CARTER on March 05, 2015, 06:03:38 PM

I've restored several planes, but not one that bad. The PT-22 looks like a write-off.

Floyd

If you've got a data plate you can "restore" anything. For example, there's practically no original parts on "Glacier Girl", the P-38 that was famously melted out from deep in the ice. It all just depends what your personal definition of "restore" is.

I'm glad Harrison is ok, he has been a good ambassador to general aviation.

Andrew Hathaway · « **Reply #12 on:** March 05, 2015, 08:17:25 PM »

Edit: So the youtube tag doesn't work, but just pasting the youtube link embeds the video? That's different.

Sean McEntee · « **Reply #13 on:** March 05, 2015, 09:42:45 PM »

Thats it...the press has seen too many "Indian Jones" Movies!

From what I can gather, he did everything right. Engine failed shortly after takeoff. Declared an emergency with intent to return to the airport but realized that wasnt going to happen so he shot for the golf course. Considering he didnt lose consiousness in the impact and the "relatively" good shape that the plane is in, he didnt hit all that hard, which is awesome considering the fairly small clearing he landed in.

Naturally the news is spinning the doom-and-gloom story about the "vintage" airplane like its a rusted-out '71 Ford Pinto They even initailly reported him in critical condition before he even got to the hospital! Thats news for ya...

Mike Griffin · « **Reply #14 on:** March 05, 2015, 10:20:03 PM »

He can buy a new one if he had to, believe me.

Mike

billbyles · « **Reply #15 on:** March 05, 2015, 10:34:52 PM »

Quote from: Sean McEntee on March 05, 2015, 09:42:45 PM

Thats it...the press has seen too many "Indian Jones" Movies!

From what I can gather, he did everything right. Engine failed shortly after takeoff. Declared an emergency with intent to return to the airport but realized that wasnt going to happen so he shot for the golf course. Considering he didnt lose consiousness in the impact and the "relatively" good shape that the plane is in, he didnt hit all that hard, which is awesome considering the fairly small clearing he landed in.

Naturally the news is spinning the doom-and-gloom story about the "vintage" airplane like its a rusted-out '71 Ford Pinto They even initailly reported him in critical condition before he even got to the hospital! Thats news for ya...

Roger that Sean...the media can screw up the most basic story about most anything, aviation in particular since the average talking head knows little to nothing about airplanes, flying, etc. A few years ago a Boeing 747 took off from LAX and got about 200 miles out enroute to Honolulu when they had to shut down an engine. They turned around, went back to LAX and made a totally normal landing - a 747 will fly just fine with one engine out. Of course the media covered it as "The 747 made a crash landing at LAX and nobody was killed or injured." The landing was so normal that if the captain had not advised the passengers about the situation they could not have discerned any difference from a four engine landing. I wouldn't say that the talking heads are stupid but they sure don't take the time to get their facts straight - they are far more concerned with giving us the "spectacular, death-defying stories" which of course, sells more air time/newspapers, etc.

Harrison Ford is an excellent pilot; he is a top-notch "stick & rudder" pilot who flies a lot, is very current, and is well up on safety procedures. I have no doubt his Ryan PT-22 will be restored. I just did an annual on a beautifully restored one here at Chino airport so I know a little about that airplane.

skyshark58 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 05, 2015, 11:46:25 PM »

I read one report that said" the airtraffic controllers had him do a couple of 360 degree loops then he autrotated into the golf course for a crash landing"

Scott Richlen · « **Reply #17 on:** March 06, 2015, 05:46:57 AM »

Hey, I did that!

1966 and I'm flying a Jr. Falcon at Fort Missoula on the road next to the golf course. Single channel escapement, Cox Baby Bee. So, I get a little downwind and have to land on the gold green. My brother is yelling at the golfers "Duck! Duck!" and they are like "huh?" so I yell "Fore!" and they all duck as my plane whistles over them and lands on the green. We jump the fence, apologize, and grab our plane. And they're probably thinking "dumb high-schoolers!" as we make our getaway....

Jim Kraft · « **Reply #18 on:** March 06, 2015, 08:01:37 AM »

Just as an aside we had a Kinner Sportster come in to the airport in Abilene Ks a few years ago. I went out and watched him take off. That old Kinner radial sounded like it was still idling when the plane left the ground. Nothing like the sound of a radial and the Kinner had one of its own. I think at cruising speed they run around 1500 rpm.

Steve Fitton · « **Reply #19 on:** March 06, 2015, 08:15:26 AM »

Isn't that the same golf course Hughes was trying to reach with the XF-11? At least Ford made the field instead of somebody's house.

Matt Colan · « **Reply #20 on:** March 06, 2015, 08:58:54 AM »

Quote from: skyshark58 on March 05, 2015, 11:46:25 PM

I read one report that said" the airtraffic controllers had him do a couple of 360 degree loops then he autrotated into the golf course for a crash landing"

That doesn't even make sense. Apparently reporters don't realize that autorotating is for helicopters. I can't stand what the media says about the aviation industry, they make it sound like we're all daredevil pilots flying within an inch of death, and flying stuff that isn't even airworthy.

Looks like Ford will be ok, but that PT-22 needs some work

Paul Smith · « **Reply #21 on:** March 06, 2015, 09:00:48 AM »

Howard Hughes rebuilt all five of the airplanes he crashed.

eric david conley · « **Reply #22 on:** March 06, 2015, 10:30:46 AM »

Matt, I'm pretty sure Mike was speaking with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Eric

john e. holliday · « **Reply #23 on:** March 06, 2015, 12:30:52 PM »

With todays media they have to blow every thing out of proportion it seems. I wonder where they get their education. I have the Brodak kit of the PT-22 that I hope to start on one of these years.

Scott Richlen · « **Reply #24 on:** March 06, 2015, 01:52:23 PM »

When you get it done you should probably avoid flying it too close to any golf course...

Paul Smith · « **Reply #25 on:** March 06, 2015, 01:58:23 PM »

From the pitchers, the ground looked very mushy. It ripped off his LG. With firmer turf it would have been and Ok landing.

The gas tank became filled with air.

The engine noise and altitude decreased very quickly.

Matt Colan · « **Reply #26 on:** March 06, 2015, 01:59:08 PM »

Quote from: eric david conley on March 06, 2015, 10:30:46 AM

Matt, I'm pretty sure Mike was speaking with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Eric

The sad thing is I could see the media saying something like that.

Jim Kraft · « **Reply #27 on:** March 06, 2015, 08:16:47 PM »

He did crash a helicopter a few years back an that may have been what they were talking about.

Mike Scholtes · « **Reply #28 on:** March 06, 2015, 10:06:22 PM »

I watched a poor NTSB or maybe FAA agent answering questions at the media scrum. He was clearly exasperated at the dumb questions being asked. When one female reporter yelled out "Have they found the black boxes yet?" he was speechless. To try to keep the hysteria level down he spoke only of "the pilot" never mentioning his name.

Ford piloted his personal Beaver floatplane in a South Seas adventure film called something like "six days seven nights" with Rene Russo as the love interest, which is somewhat ironic. Some CGI but also real footage of the real plane.

Larry Renger · « **Reply #29 on:** March 06, 2015, 10:10:28 PM »

Some of the accounts indicated he may have stalled at 100 ft. Others said he hit a tree. Also, that he was OK until his plane nosed over, having hung up on something.

I think that analysis of the real crash causes and circumstances is way beyond the capability of the news media! There are idiots among us and they (unfortunately) speak for us.

So far, I will wait for the real crash analysis and hope for Mr. Ford's complete rcovery. He is one of my favorite actors. Han Solo and Indie Jones can not die!

Chris McMillin · « **Reply #30 on:** March 07, 2015, 12:45:02 AM »

Howard Hughes was heading for the Los Angeles Country Club golf course, I think. Hef's mansion backs up to it. Anne Hache was the girl in Six Days, Seven Nights. Rene always liked boys.
I liked it when the CNN guy reported it was dripping Jet Fuel...
Looks like he scrubbed off the last bit of energy flying through the tree and it nosed over into the grass at a pretty steep angle by what locals are saying. He had a plan, and was lucky, a perfect combo. The airplane was pretty nice when he bought it and it went through a super resto, then won an Oshkosh Wrench of some flavor, he flies it a lot and I see it regularly along with his Beaver and a lot of other Antiques out of Santa Monica.
Chris...

mike londke · « **Reply #31 on:** March 07, 2015, 12:54:46 AM »

What Twitter is saying. http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/harrison-ford-plane-crash-laugh-it-up-twitter-nerds-1.2984308

Mike Griffin · « **Reply #32 on:** March 07, 2015, 02:47:13 PM »

Sources say he was flying Solo.

Bill Adair · « **Reply #33 on:** March 07, 2015, 03:20:47 PM »

Quote from: Mike Griffin on March 07, 2015, 02:47:13 PM

Sources say he was flying Solo.

Good one Mike!

Bill

Tim Wescott · « **Reply #34 on:** March 07, 2015, 05:05:24 PM »

Balsa Butcher · « **Reply #35 on:** March 07, 2015, 06:15:16 PM »

Harrison Ford did a great job getting that PT-22 back on the ground in one piece. As was mentioned before-he must have had that golf course in mind as a forced landing area from the minute he started rolling down the runway. Did you hear his matter-of-fact reporting of the engine failure?...right stuff all the way. A less skilled pilot would have stalled out and gone straight in trying to stretch his glide to get back to the runway.

One thing that was not mentioned was the Kinner engine (pok-a-ta, pok-a-ta, say it fast repeatedly and you will get an approximation of what it sounds like while running). One thing you will never hear are the words: "Kinner engine" and "Reliable" used in the same sentence. In the end my educated guess is that engine failure (not caused by fuel starvation as was the case in another high-profile crash involving an entertainer) will be the primary cause of this accident.

Mike Scholtes · « **Reply #36 on:** March 07, 2015, 06:16:22 PM »

Oops, apologies to Rene Russo, it was indeed Anne Heche in the movie with Harrison Ford. Also apologies to the movie, which Wikipedia says was made with no CGI. The Beaver crash was produced by hanging the real plane from a helicopter with the engine running (!!).

We had a near identical PT-22 at my home airport at Palo Alto, CA with the Kinner radial that I got to see fly often. Wonderful sound. Hand propping a large-ish engine is a neat trick, with having to clear the bottom cylinders of oil before switching the mags on. Sorry to say that example crashed, with a less happy outcome for the owner.

Norm Faith Jr. · « **Reply #37 on:** March 07, 2015, 10:33:38 PM »

Quote from: Ty Marcucci on March 07, 2015, 01:35:49 PM

I just love it when the local news states, at the end of their report, "The pilot didn't file a flight plan" as if that has anything to do with the crash. To the best of my limited experience, only commercial and military are required to file a flight plan. We did as we flew from an Army field, but not when we flew from a private field. None of my Cessna's had black boxes, but I did have a black flight bag. I wonder if that counts with the so called news media.

You are right Ty about filing a flight plan. It's not a requirement by regulation for VFR flights. IFR, 135 Air Taxi and 121 operations are a little different story.
Norm

FLOYD CARTER · « **Reply #38 on:** March 09, 2015, 02:30:45 PM »

Now I get a report that the plane was a Ryan ST3KR. This is almost identical to the Kinner PT-22 except it is the Navy version. The only difference is the landing gear, which was not visible in the crash pictures.

I flew in a ST3KR belonging to Bob Yates, which was fitted with a 200 HP Ranger engine.

I also flew in a Ryan STA N16039 which belonged to Hal Sparks. I documented the heck out of it for publication in Paul Matt's Historical Aviation Album.

Floyd