Accident on set could have killed star Ford

HARRISON FORD, the Hollywood actor, narrowly escaped death after being crushed by a hydraulic door on the British set of the latest Star Wars film, a court heard yesterday.

Foodles Production, a division of Disney, admitted two breaches of health and safety legislation over the incident, in June 2014, which left the actor, pictured, with a broken leg.

Milton Keynes magistrates’ court heard yesterday that Ford, who was reprising his role as Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, had walked under the metal-framed door, thinking it was inactive.

However, a crew member on the set, at Pinewood Studios, Bucks, operated the door remotely, knocking the actor to the ground with the force of a small car. JJ Abrams, the film’s director, has said he broke a vertebra in his back while trying to lift the heavy door off Ford. Andrew Marshall, prosecuting, said that the actor only escaped death because another crew member activated an emergency stop. He told the court: “The door was remotely operated and came down hitting Ford in the pelvic area, knocking him to the ground and pinning him to the ground. “He was severely injured. Looking at the guidelines it is clearly high culpability because there was a high risk. It could have killed somebody.” A spokesman for Foodles said: “Foodles has provided full cooperation throughout [the Health and Safety Executive’s] investigation into the on-set accident that occurred in June 2014. The safety of our cast and crew was always a top priority throughout the production.” The company will be sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court later this year.