Penmar Golf Course Reopens After Harrison Ford Plane Crash
As soon as the wreckage of Harrison Ford's plane was removed, Santa Monica golfers were able to play again at the Penmar Golf Course on Friday afternoon.
TMZ learned that the golf course immediately reopened the site just a day after the actor's plane crash-landed on the tee box of the 8th hole. The damage has not yet been fully repaired as per gold course officials but TMZ said golfers were informed to treat it as "a hazard."
The 72-year-old Hollywood actor was flying his small vintage plane, a 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR, when the actor reported engine failure.
BBC said Ford was "breathing and alert" when a medical team arrived to take him to the hospital. His son Ben later on said that his dad was "battered" but OK.
His publicist also released a statement saying that the injuries the actor sustained were not life threatening and that he will soon recover fully. Earlier reports revealed that Ford mainly sustained bruises on his head caused by the impact of the crash.
Ford was also lucky that people at the crash site were able to pull him out of the plane immediately, since there's risk that the aircraft could explode, according to BBC.
The same report added that the vintage plane Ford was maneuvering was flying 3,000 feet when it hit a tree while making its way down.
"It just sounded like a car hitting the ground or a tree or something. He ended up crashing around the eighth hole," Jeff Kuprycz, a golfer playing at Penmar, was quoted by BBC as saying.
The emergency landing of Ford was something airport officials credited as Christian Fry of the Santa Monica Airport Association noted that it was "an absolutely beautifully executed emergency landing by an unbelievably well-trained pilot."
Meanwhile, film producer Ryan Kavanaugh who saw the accident direct from where he is working said that Ford literally had five seconds to decide on what to do.
"Ninety-nine percent (99%) of pilots would have turned around to go back to the runway and would have crashed. Harrison did what the best pilots in the world would do. He made the correct turn that the plane was designed for with an engine out," Kavanaugh was quoted as saying.
NBC News said that Ford should be thankful there was a golf course on the place where he landed.
"One thing you can say about the city planners of Santa Monica way back then when they put in a golf course: It was a wise choice. There are many airports that do have golf courses nearby ... and many pilots are grateful," flight school Justice Aviation president Joe Justice told NBC News.