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           Reports: Actor Harrison Ford Injured in Small-Plane Crash

   by Reuters

   Actor Harrison Ford was seriously injured Thursday in the crash of a
   small airplane on a Los Angeles-area golf course, celebrity website TMZ
   and local media reported.

   Reuters could not immediately confirm the TMZ report, which said Ford,
   72, suffered multiple gashes to his head in the crash just over a mile
   (1.6 km) from Santa Monica Airport and was taken to a nearby hospital
   for treatment.

   "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,'' Officer Nuria Vanegas of the Los Angeles Police Department
   said. "The incident was reported at 2:25 p.m. It was mechanical
   failure of plane -- that's what caused the accident."

   Assistant Los Angeles Fire Chief Patrick Butler told reporters that the
   plane struck a tree as it crashed onto the golf course.

   Butler said the sole occupant of the plane was conscious and breathing
   following the crash and was initially tended to by bystanders before
   paramedics responded and transported him to a local hospital in "fair
   to moderate'' condition.

   Paramedics "initiated spinal mobilization, started an IV and began all
   the necessary medical protocols that we do,'' Butler said.

   Ford's publicist could not be reached for comment.

   Ford, best known as archaeological adventurer Indiana Jones in "Raiders
   of the Lost Ark'' and as the space hero Han Solo in the "Star Wars''
   series, is a longtime aviation enthusiast.

   Carlos Lugo, 63, said he was playing golf at the Penmar Golf Course in
   Venice 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,'' Lugo said.

   The plane went through some trees and landed near the eighth hole at
   the golf course, he said.

   Reuters images from the scene showed the badly damaged
   silver-and-yellow plane crumpled on the golf course grass.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-harrison-ford-hurt-in-plane-crash/2669766.html