Eddie Aguglia, 47, said crash would have been much worse had Ford tried to go back to the airport, while son calls actor ‘an incredibly strong man’ 
 
 A witness to the plane crash in which the actor Harrison Ford was injured on Thursday said the actor “saved several lives” when he brought his plane down on a golf course near Los Angeles, avoiding a built-up area nearby. 
 
 Eddie Aguglia, 47, was playing a round when Ford brought the plane down, having reported “engine failure” in a call to Santa Monica’s municipal airport, from where he had taken off. 
 
 
 
 “Looking at where he crashed and how the plane went down, I’m sure there was a moment where he said, ‘I’m not going to risk lives, whatever happens, happens. It’s going to be just me,’” Aguglia told NBC News. 
 
 The 72-year-old actor suffered “moderate” injuries after crashing the vintage two-seater plane he was piloting on to a green at Penmar golf course on Thursday afternoon. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Harrison Ford is treated on the golf course by paramedics 
 
 Reports said Ford suffered lacerations to his face and possible fractures. Television news footage taken showed him on a stretcher being taken into an ambulance. 
 
 “He risked life and limb by putting it down on the golf course instead of trying to go further to try to get back to the airport. Another 25 to 30 yards and … I don’t want to think about it. He saved several lives,” said Aguglia. 
 
 Patrick Jones, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, told a press conference Ford (whom he did not name) had been “absolutely” lucky to escape with his life. 
 
 “Anytime a pilot survives an accident, that is a good thing,” said Jones. “I’m sure the pilot is glad that there was a golf course here.” 
 
 A local NBC affiliate reported that a doctor who was also on the course was first to reach the actor. 
 
 Dr Sanjay Khurana, a spinal surgeon, told NBC4 he “did a brief exam and smelled the fuel and didn’t want it to ignite”. He said he then recognised the actor. 
 
 “I watched Star Wars as a kid,” Khurana said. “I think we all did, right? Raiders of the Lost Ark… iconic films.” 
 
 Paramedics found Ford to be “alert and conscious” and suffering “moderate trauma”, Patrick Butler, the Los Angeles assistant fire chief, told a press conference at the scene. He added: “We are very thankful that the passenger had [only] very moderate injuries.” 
 
 Ford’s son Ben, meanwhile, reported from hospital that his father was “battered but OK” after crashing. 
 
 Chef Ben Ford (@ChefBenFord) At 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. 
 
 On Twitter, Ben Ford added: “He is every bit the man you would think he is. He is an incredibly strong man.” 
 
 The 72-year-old Ford, who appeared in Star Wars, Blade Runner, and The Fugitive, reported engine failure to the Santa Monica airport control tower moments after taking off. In a curt, composed-sounding message he requested “immediate return” and was cleared to land but did not make it to the runway. 
 
 Ford, a veteran pilot, was the only occupant of the plane, a Ryan PT-22 Recruit, which was used for training during the second world war. He qualified as a pilot in the 1990s and has made headlines with two rescues, one of a missing boy scout and one a mountain climber in Wyoming. 
 
 In 2000 he was piloting a six-seater plane which was blown off a runway in Lincoln, Nebraska; he has also volunteered to fight forest fires. 
 
 The United Talent Agency, which represents the actor, said in a statement that his plane stalled upon take off. 
 
 
 
 “He had no other choice but to make an emergency landing, which he did safely,” the statement said. “He was banged up and is in the hospital receiving medical care. The injuries sustained are not life threatening, and he is expected to make a full recovery.” 
 
 Christian Fry, of the Santa Monica Airport Association, said: “I would say that this is an absolutely beautifully executed … forced or emergency landing, by an unbelievably well-trained pilot.” ||||| Harrison Ford Plane Crashes [Video Update: Paramedics Treat Harrison] 
 
 Harrison Ford -- Plane Crashes ... Actor Seriously Injured (VIDEO UPDATE: Paramedics Treat Harrison) 
 
 6:20 PM PT -- A rep for Ford says, "Harrison was flying a WW2 vintage plane today which stalled upon takeoff." They added, "He had no other choice but to make an emergency landing, which he did safely. The injuries sustained are not life-threatening, and he is expected to make a full recovery." 
 
 5:05 PM PT -- TMZ just obtained video of first responders on the scene treating Harrison ... just yards away from the plane he just crash landed on the golf course. 
 
 5:00 PM PT -- Harrison's son Ben just tweeted, "At the hospital. Dad is ok. Battered, but ok! He is every bit the man you would think he is." 
 
 4:30 PM PT -- We've obtained intense audio of Harrison talking to the Santa Monica Airport control tower just moments after he'd taken off. Listen ... you hear him report engine failure and request an emergency return to the airport. 
 
 4:41 PM PT -- A witness who was golfing at the time of the crash tells us she heard the engine sputter ... and watched the plane do a "nose dive straight on the 8th hole tee box." 
 
 The witness adds, "I was one of the first people to run from the hole toward the plane. 4 to 5 men pulled the pilot out of the plane." 
 
 "They got him away from the plane. They were concerned it would catch on fire." 
 
 "Two doctors were there – and they had a 1st aid box with them. He was conscious, talking a little -- a HUGE cut on his head." 
 
 The witness tells us the cut was VERY deep -- "A swath of his skin was missing. There was blood dripping down his face." A small plane piloted by Harrison Ford has crash-landed at an L.A. golf course ... but we're told the actor has survived. 
 
 TMZ has learned ... Ford was piloting what appears to be a vintage 2-seater fighter plane Thursday ... when something went wrong and he crashed into Penmar golf course in Venice, CA. Remarkably, it appears Ford veered off course from the runway in order to avoid crashing into homes. 
 
 We're told Ford suffered multiple gashes to his head and was bleeding. Two doctors who happened to be at the golf course rushed over to treat the actor. 
 
 Emergency personnel arrived to the scene a short time later. Ford was transported to a nearby hospital. 
 
 72-year-old Ford is a longtime aviator -- piloting planes and helicopters -- and has crashed multiple times in the past. ||||| Harrison Ford, who made his name flying the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars, was hailed for his real life piloting skills as he survived a plane crash and averted disaster by steering his aircraft clear of houses. 
 
 Witnesses described how he veered away from homes and clipped a tree as he hit the ground just short of the eighth tee at Penmar municipal golf course, a stone's throw from a quiet cul-de-sac. 
 
 Golfers, including two off-duty doctors, rushed to the downed plane and pulled out the actor who was bleeding from his head. 
 
 Elaine Miller, one of the golfers, said he was "in pain". She said: "He had a significant head wound. He asked someone to hold his legs up and people were just saying 'You're OK, the fire department is on its way.'" 
 
 Paramedics strapped the actor to a spinal board and took him to hospital where he was described as in "moderate to fair" condition. 
 
 Mr Ford had taken off alone in the two-seater 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR from Santa Monica Airport at 2.20pm. 
 
 He then made a tense and rushed call to air traffic control saying: "Engine failure. Request immediate return." 
 
 He went quiet and a controller could soon be heard saying: "Looks like it (the plane) was short of the runway." 
 
 Paul Crumm, a pilot who uses the same airport, saw Mr Ford's plane much lower than it should have been and dipping below the tree line. 
 
 He told CNN: "I didn't hear the engine. It was definitely not there at that point. His engine was no longer effective so he couldn't keep going. In a situation like that Mr Ford did everything right." 
 
 
 
 The Hollywood actor Harrison Ford in London in 2013 (Reuters) 
 
 Paul Mitton, producer of Just Another Pilot, a documentary featuring Mr Ford, said: "Harrison is an extremely good pilot. Had he got a little further he would have been over suburbia and the outcome would have been very different and less happy. He did an incredible job of missing the trees (on the golf course)." 
 
 One resident said: "I heard the engine stop and he turned around when he was near the houses. I think it's amazing he made it back. He must be a very good pilot not just acting it well." 
 
 The plane came down between a line of tall trees and the golf course's perimeter chain fence. 
 
 On impact the nose buckled and the propeller ploughed into the ground. One of the yellow wings appeared to have snapped at the base. There was a 15ft long furrow behind the aircraft and one of the wheels had come off. 
 
 Jeff Kuprycz, who was playing golf, saw the plane about 200ft off the ground and dropping. 
 
 He said: "Immediately you could see the engine started to sputter and just cut out and he banked sharply to the left. He ended up crashing around the eighth hole. There was no explosion or anything. It just sounded like a car hitting the ground or a tree." 
 
 Howard Teba, who works at the golf course, said he heard a "thud" and later put a blanket under Mr Ford's hip. 
 
 He told the Santa Monica Daily Press: "There was blood all over his face. He had a massive gash on his forehead." 
 
 
 
 Calista Flockhart looked visibly upset the day after the crash (Splashnews) 
 
 Residents have previously demanded the closure of Santa Monica Airport over safety concerns and Mr Ford has been prominent in the campaign to keep it open, donating tens of thousands of dollars. 
 
 It is used regularly by aircraft enthusiasts such as Mr Ford, and also by Hollywood stars travelling by private jet. 
 
 In July 2010 a pilot died after his single engine Cessna crashed on the Penmar golf course, also near the eighth hole. 
 
 Patrick Jones, an investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, said Mr Ford was "absolutely" lucky to have survived. 
 
 He said: "The pilot is an experienced pilot. The pilot reported a loss of engine power and was attempting to return to the airport. It appears he clipped the top of a tree and came to a rest on the golf course. I'm sure the pilot was glad there was a golf course here." 
 
 
 
 The scene of the crash at the Penmar Golf Course (Getty) 
 
 Patrick Butler, Los Angeles assistant fire chief, described Mr Ford has having been "alert, talking and breathing" after the crash. 
 
 A spokesman for the actor said in a statement: "Harrison was flying a WW2 vintage plane today which stalled upon take-off. He had no other choice but to make an emergency landing, which he did safely. The injuries sustained are not life-threatening, and he is expected to make a full recovery." 
 
 Mr Ford has been a pilot for at least two decades and owns about a dozen planes. 
 
 
 
 Harrison Ford as Han Solo flying the Millennium Falcon (Alamy) 
 
 Christian Fry, of the Santa Monica Airport Association, said: "I would say that this is an absolutely beautifully executed, what we would call, a forced or emergency landing, by an unbelievably well-trained pilot." 
 
 His off-screen life is filled with almost as many thrills and spills as the characters he portrays on film. 
 
 In 1999 he crash-landed a helicopter during a training flight near Los Angeles and was unhurt. 
 
 The following year high winds forced him to make an emergency landing of a plane in Nebraska. The plane clipped the runway and its wing tips were damaged.
– Harrison Ford had to crash-land his small plane on a golf course near Los Angeles today, but he appears to have escaped serious harm. "Dad is ok," tweeted son Ben Ford from the hospital. "Battered but ok!" The AP reports that the 72-year-old veteran pilot suffered "moderate injuries," and NBC Los Angeles says that includes cuts to the head. Ford reported engine trouble and requested permission to make an emergency return to the Santa Monica Airport soon after taking off, reports TMZ. He landed on the course in Venice instead, and two doctors who happened to be there treated him until he was taken to the hospital. NBC reports that he appeared to be flying solo in a WWII-era training plane, and CNN reports that he appeared to hit some trees on the way down. "There was blood all over his face," says an employee at Penmar Golf Course. "Two very fine doctors were treating him, taking good care of him. I helped put a blanket under his hip."