No penalty for Ford

LOS ANGELES: Harrison Ford will not face any penalties over mistakenly landing on a taxiway at a Southern California airport earlier this year, the actor’s attorney said on Monday.

Attorney Stephen Hofer wrote in a statement that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would not fine Ford and the actor would retain his pilot’s licence without restriction.

“The FAA conducted a full investigation into the matter and determined that no administrative or enforcement action was warranted,” Hofer wrote.

Ford mistakenly landed on a taxiway at John Wayne Airport in Orange County on Feb 13 after flying over an American Airlines jet that was waiting to take off.

“I’m the schmuck who landed on the taxiway,” Ford told an air traffic controller shortly after the landing.

Recordings of Ford’s conversations with air traffic controllers were released on Friday by the FAA, and video previously released by the airport showed the actor’s Aviat Husky plane from behind as it descended toward the airfield, where the American Airlines Boeing 737 was slowly taxiing.

Ford told an air traffic controller after the incident that he “got distracted by the airliner” and also mentioned “big turbulence” from another plane that was landing.

The FAA confirmed it had concluded its investigation into the incident, but the agency said it did not comment on individual pilots.

Hofer said Ford cooperated with investigators, has been a licenced pilot for more than 20 years with more 5,000 hours of flight experience, adding that Ford had never been the subject of an FAA enforcement action.