Harrison Ford plane crash: Star Wars actor 'seriously injured' after light aircraft crash lands

The 72-year-old actor was said to have suffered moderate trauma after the World War Two training plane he was piloting hit a tree as it came down

An airplane sits after crash landing at Penmar Golf Course in Venice California (Reuters)

The Hollywood actor Harrison Ford suffered serious injuries - but escaped with his life - after the small plane he was piloting crashed onto a Los Angeles golf course.

The 72-year-old star of movies such as Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, was said to have suffered moderate trauma but was alert and conscious when he was taken to a local hospital.

"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," he said.

Los Angeles Fire Brigade spokesman Patrick Butler told a press conference that the incident happened around 2.30pm local time. Reports said his plane – a yellow Ryan PT-22 Recruit that was used for training during World War II - had hit a tree as it came down and that Ford was helped by bystanders.

Patrick Jones, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the incident, said anytime someone walked away from such an accident they were "absolutely lucky".

"It appeared he clipped the top of a tree and came to rest on a golf course," he told reporters. "There was one person onboard."

“We can confirm that there was a plane crash and the male occupant was a 65-70-year-old man. He was transported to a local hospital in stable condition,” Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Officer Nuria Vanegas said earlier.

Carlos Lugo, 63, said he was playing golf at the Penmar Golf Course when he saw a plane that he believed had taken off from nearby Santa Monica Airport lose power and turn around in an apparent attempt to return to the runway.

“When he flew over us we knew it was too late to make it back to the airport,” he told Reuters.

Images taken at the scene saw the plane landed belly-up near the eighth hole at the golf course. The fuselage was largely intact.

Reports said Ford was known as a keen aviation enthusiast and that he had been flying such aircraft since the 1960s.