--- title: Harrison Ford Plane Crash: Actor Nearly Collides into LA Jet description: Harrison Ford was nearly involved in a serious accident at Orange County's John Wayne Airport while piloting his private plane on Monday canonical: https://time.com/4671232/harrison-ford-plane-crash-la-airport-2017/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-14T22:37:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:19:58.496Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Harrison Ford Nearly Piloted His Plane Into a Passenger Airliner in L.A. og:description: It's not the first time the actor has been involved in a piloting incident og:url: https://time.com/4671232/harrison-ford-plane-crash-la-airport-2017/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e9951bddc4de0c4/6988ba5ef887dce373e99122/harrison-ford-plane.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Harrison Ford arrives at the European Premiere of Star Wars, The Force Awakens in Leicester Square, London og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Harrison Ford Nearly Piloted His Plane Into a Passenger Airliner in L.A. twitter:description: It's not the first time the actor has been involved in a piloting incident twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e9951bddc4de0c4/6988ba5ef887dce373e99122/harrison-ford-plane.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Harrison Ford Nearly Piloted His Plane Into a Passenger Airliner at L.A. Airport by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Feb 14, 2017 10:37 PM CUT  Harrison Ford arrives at the European Premiere of Star Wars, The Force Awakens in Leicester Square, London, on Dec. 16, 2015. Harrison Ford arrives at the European Premiere of Star Wars, The Force Awakens in Leicester Square, London, on Dec. 16, 2015.Dylan Martinez—Reuters by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Feb 14, 2017 10:37 PM CUT [Harrison Ford](http://time.com/4364491/harrison-ford-indiana-jones-theme-song/ "undefined") was nearly involved in a serious accident while piloting his private plane on Monday, [NBC News reports](http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/harrison-ford-has-incident-passenger-plane-airport-n720826 "undefined"). Ford, an aviation enthusiast who has been piloting since the 1990s, was attempting to land his single-engine plane at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif. Air traffic controllers instructed the actor to land on a designated runway, but he mistakenly aimed for a taxiway instead where an American Airlines plane full of 116 people was parked. His plane just managed to pass over the top of the commercial airliner. The American Airlines flight took off safely just minutes later. Ford was recorded asking the air traffic controllers, “Was that airliner meant to be underneath me?” The [Federal Aviation Administration](http://time.com/3988320/harrison-ford-plane-crash-investigation/ "undefined") reportedly told NBC News that the “controllers gave Ford the proper landing instructions and that he read them back.” The FAA is investigating the incident, [according to NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/harrison-ford-has-incident-passenger-plane-airport-n720826 "undefined"). Ford, 74, has been involved in a number of crashes and near-accidents over the years but he was credited with saving “several lives” by avoiding crashing his plane into a populated area during a 2015 crash onto a Los Angeles golf course, [NBC reported](http://time.com/3735057/harrison-ford-plane-crash/ "undefined"). The actor has amassed a collection of vintage aircraft throughout his career. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4671232/harrison-ford-plane-crash-la-airport-2017/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4671232/harrison-ford-plane-crash-la-airport-2017/"},"headline":"Harrison Ford Nearly Piloted His Plane Into a Passenger Airliner at L.A. 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