The National Transportation Safety Board released its report on actor Harrison Ford’s small plane crash in March on Thursday, blaming the crash on a mechanical problem.
On March 5, the Star Wars and Indiana Jones star, 73, crashed his small World War II era training plane shortly after taking off from the Santa Monica Airport. He landed in a nearby golf course and was seriously injured. He did not make a public appearance until the San Diego Comic-Con in July.
According to the NTSB report, obtained by The Los Angeles Times, a carburetor problem caused the plane’s engine to lose power after takeoff. The part wasn’t mounted and had not been checked since 1998, when the plane was restored.
Ford reported the engine failure when he reached 1,100 feet and was going to head back to the airport.
He “stated that he did not attempt an engine restart but maintained an airspeed of 85 mph and initiated a left turn back toward the airport; however, during the approach, he realized that the airplane was unable to reach the runway,” the report reads, notes the Associated Press. “The pilot did not recall anything further about the accident sequence.”
Ford was recently seen in The Age of Adaline and is in the new Star Wars movie, which opens on Dec. 18.
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