Harrison Ford Landed on the Taxiway at John Wayne

20L is not marked as distinctly as 20R, but there's still the approach chevrons and the large 20L at the approach end. The taxiway next to it has a yellow border, but no other markings and is half the width of 20L (which is half the width of 20R). If your eyes are focused down the runway, the approach markings could be overlooked. (see photo)

I guess it can happen if you're overloaded for some reason. My first solo XC flight, I was supposed to land at Palm Springs and then return. I was given clearance to land on runway 31 and I lined up for 31R. I totally ignored the much wider 31L right next to it (I was used to being given the "small runway" as a private plane and didn't expect the big one) and I also missed the X at the approach end of the runway 31R (runway closed). I also don't recall if the tower accidentally left off the L on 31L because they had gotten used to the runway being closed, all I remember hearing was 31. I was on approach at about 300' when the tower advised me I was lined up for a closed runway and I quickly declared a go-around.
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I wonder what forward visibility is like on the Husky during approach. The reason I ask is because the biplane I fly has almost zero forward visibility on approach.

A low sun on the horizon can make visibility poor, but as runway 20 is to the south, I don't think that was an issue. There were low clouds today on the SoCal coast...

 

Tonight's ABC News had a good animation that explains what happened. Fortunately, the taxiway was clear but he did seem to come rather close above the 737.

 

"I have a bad feeling about this....".

 

I wouldn't blame you for that. If the open runway was marked 31L, that's exactly what the controller should have said!

 

Yikes, and it gets worse once you start googling!

Harrison Ford's plane involved in airliner mishap - Feb. 14, 2017

Harrison Ford was aboard a small plane that landed on a taxiway of a California airport, flying directly over a waiting American Airlines 737, federal officials said.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which has not identified who was piloting the plane, is investigating this incident.
According to the FAA, the actor's Aviat Husky single-engine propellor plane was cleared to land on Runway 20L at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Monday afternoon. The FAA said the pilot repeated the approved landing clearance back to the air traffic controller.

"The pilot then landed on a taxiway that runs parallel to the runway, overflying a Boeing 737 that was holding short of the runway," the FAA said in a statement.
The 737-800, operated by American Airlines, had 110 passengers and six crew aboard. The flight departed the gate from Orange County for Dallas just after noon.
The National Transportation Safety Board said that it was told Ford was involved in a landing incident at John Wayne airport. They are gathering more information and have not determined whether they will investigate just yet.
The NTSB did not specify that Ford was the pilot.
A representative for the actor declined to comment.
American Airlines said it is aware of the incident and has reported it to the FAA and NTSB.

Ford, 74, is best known as the rogue smuggler pilot in "Star Wars" or the risk taking professor Indiana Jones.
In real life, he is an avid aviator of both helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft.
Ford experienced an engine failure on his single-engine Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR in March 2015, performing an emergency landing on a golf course. Ford was seriously injured in the accident and the NTSB traced the cause to a failed part inside the engine's carburetor.

 

"Great kid. Don't get cocky"

 

Hopefully it helped with his lifelong constipation.


- via iPhone

 

How is anyone surprised? He lost the Millennium Falcon!

 

According to this report, Ford sounded confused during his flight:

* Harrison Ford fumbled through his call to air traffic control before his near miss with a Boeing 737 on Monday
* He suggested to the tower that he was flying a helicopter instead of a plane
* He was also told that he was speaking to the wrong air traffic control tower
* Ford mistakenly aimed for the unmarked taxiway instead of runway 20-L, just passing over an American Airlines 737 loaded with more than 100 passengers. The 737 was waiting to use runway 20-R on the other side of 20-L

Harrison Ford sounded confused before airport near-miss | Daily Mail Online

 

Ah!
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He needs to start flying with a co-pilot.

I think Chewbacca is available. And they seem to work well with each other.

-F

 

The last I heard about Ford was when he landed on a golf course in Los Angeles. Time for his family to take the keys.

 

Easy mistake. In a tail dragger. FAA, don't bust balls on this. No one was hurt.

 

He did a great job there; engine failure and he got it down on a golf course, not houses, and injured no one but himself.

 

I agree Ford did a good job with his forced landing. However, at his age the mind can stall at times. My dad is the same age. He started only flying with a co-pilot at least 5 years ago. Fortunately this was of his own accord. It was never expressly spoken of, it just sort of evolved. I wonder if he recalls his last solo flight. Very knowledgeable pilot with 40 years experience, but as I said can have momentary lapses in his ability to quickly process things, particularly when distracted. I've been into John Wayne scores of times. Usually the taxiway he landed on has planes stacked in que for takeoff. It's also very close to the GA ramp and the airliner gates. This could have been very bad. I think this is a pretty big F-up. It's time for Hans Solo to give up the solo cockpit.

 

Ford's a complete doofus. Who the f' has four, or more, mishaps. Either his kit is crap, he's crap, or both.

 

Have only heard of three, including this one... (chopper, golf course, taxiway).

Others?

 

Yes, others...

 

For a while, USAF had an unofficial rule that really senior flag officers needed a seeing eye IP to be in the aircraft with them when they were flying. Older age, not much current time to maintain currency, complex aircraft, etc. We had a couple of 4 stars kill themselves and other family/crew members, even with an IP. None of them were even close to 74. Has kind of changed now that neither the F-22 nor the F-35 have two seat versions. Skills and physical attributes (eyesight, hearing, reflexes) deteriorate as we age. FAA has gone from 60 years of age to 65 for pilots of commercial airliners, and Ford is nearly 10 years older than that. Who knows? At around that age, many states start looking more carefully at older drivers.

 

Video of the near miss. Looks like he flew right over the 737 by about 10-15 meters. I bet anyone looking out the window on the right side of the jetliner must have had a terrible fright!

Video shows Harrison Ford?s near-miss over airliner with 110 on board | Las Vegas Review-Journal

 

Haven't heard of others, and cannot find any with a search.

The chopper incident was his error (unless the instructor had him finish the autorotation too low, and this was certainly an error.

The golf course was probably not pilot error... mechanical.

So, 2 of 3, maybe?

 

I think that Ford's proximity to the airliner was not so close to be an alarming distance but his confusing the taxiway for the runway is a problem. At 74 I didn't have any problems with that sort of thing but he has had some fairly traumatic incidents that very well could have an effect on his processing inputs and judgement. At 90+ I still feel that I could fly very well but I guess all the old pilots feel that way. "The older I get, the better I was."
Many times I go through the joy of barrel rolls, spins, and loops and wish that it was still in a Stearman.