Harrison Ford Plane Crash Probe Will Take a Year: Officials

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Mar 08, 2015

Firefighters and an aviation official remove the 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR
 plane that crashed onto a golf course and was piloted by US actor Harrison Ford in
 Venice, California on March 6, 2015. Hollywood star Harrison Ford was injured March 5,
2015 when the small plane he was flying suffered engine failure and crash-landed on a
 golf course outside Los Angeles, officials said. The 72-year-old "Indiana Jones"
and "Star Wars" actor suffered multiple gashes to his head and was left bleeding
after the crash of the vintage two-seater plane. (AFP Photo/Mark Ralston)

Los Angeles. An investigation into what caused Hollywood star Harrison Ford to crash the single engine plane he was piloting will take about a year to complete, US aviation officials said on Friday.

Ford was injured Thursday when the vintage aircraft suffered engine failure and crash-landed on a golf course outside Los Angeles.

Patrick Jones, an official with the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB), told reporters in Venice, California that investigators were inspecting the wreckage as well as reviewing documents pertaining to the upkeep of the plane.

“The aircraft will be examined, the engine will be examined, the records of the aircraft will be examined and ultimately we’ll submit a factual report,” Jones said.

“All of that process is going to take probably a couple of weeks to a month or so,” the NTSB official said.

“The final report probably will not be out for a year.”

Ford, an aviation enthusiast with years of flying under his belt, flew out of Santa Monica Airport in a Ryan PT-22 Recruit, when he experienced engine trouble just minutes into the flight. He was trying to return to the airport when he crashed.

Experts pegged the aircraft he was flying as a World War II vintage two-seater plane that was more than 70 years old.

Authorities said they have not yet had the opportunity to interview Ford, but plan to do so over the course of their probe

The actor suffered multiple gashes to his head and was left bleeding after the crash.

A family spokesman said Ford’s injuries were not life threatening. His son Ben, in a tweet late Thursday said his father was “battered, but OK.”

Agence France-Presse