Harrison Ford has close call at airport

Mistakenly passed over American Airlines jet while landing, reports say

SANTA ANA, California — NBC-TV and the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that actor Harrison Ford had a potentially serious run-in with an airliner at a Southern California airport.

NBC reported that Ford, an experienced pilot, was told to land on a runway at John Wayne Airport in Orange County on Monday, but he mistakenly landed on a parallel taxiway, passing over an American Airlines 737 passenger jet holding nearby.

NBC said air traffic control recordings have Ford asking: “Was that airliner meant to be underneath me?”

American Airlines Flight 1456, with 110 passengers and six crew, departed safely for Dallas.

Ford’s publicist, Ina Treciokas, refused to comment Tuesday afternoon.

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor couldn’t confirm that Ford was the pilot of the single-engine Husky, but he said the pilot received and read back the proper landing instructions. The FAA is investigating. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said landing on a taxiway is a violation of its regulations.

The Times reported that the Aviat aircraft involved is registered to GBH Aviation, a company whose corporate officers include Ford, according to FAA and public records.

John Wayne Airport spokeswoman Deanne Thompson confirmed that an incident happened, but declined to offer details.

The incident comes nearly two years after Ford crashed a plane at a golf course near Santa Monica Airport.

According to a U.S. National Transportation Safety Board report on that 2015 crash, Ford advised Santa Monica air traffic controllers of an engine failure soon after takeoff and requested an immediate return to the airport.

Investigators said he then initiated a left turn back toward the runway and struck the top of a tall tree before he came down in an open area of Penmar Golf Course. The board said that the wings and fuselage of the plane were substantially damaged.

Investigators later determined the plane likely crashed because of a carburetor problem that caused the engine to lose power.

DAMIAN DOVARGANES, AP / JORDAN STRAUSS, INVISION, AP In this file photo from March 2015, a Second World War-era trainer airplane rests on the ground after actor Harrison Ford crash-landed it after reporting engine failure on the Penmar Golf Course near Santa Monica Airport.