LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Harrison Ford was seriously injured on Thursday in the crash of a small airplane on a Los Angeles 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 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 years old man. He was transported to a local hospital in stable condition," Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Officer Nuria Vanegas said.
"The incident was reported at 2:25 p.m., it was mechanical failure of plane, that's what caused the accident," Vanegas said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said that the sole occupant of the plane was in critical condition at a local hospital but declined to identify the pilot.
Ford's publicist could not immediately be reached for comment.
Carlos Lugo, 63, said he was playing golf at the Penmar Golf Course 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 belly-up near the eighth hole at the golf course, he said.
Ford, best known for his roles in such blockbuster films as "Star Wars" and Indiana Jones franchises a longtime aviation enthusiast.
TMZ reported that the plane appeared to be a vintage two-seater fighter plane and posted photos of the badly damaged yellow aircraft crumpled on the golf course grass.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, Alex Dobuzinskis and Dan Whitcomb; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Sandra Maler and Mohammad Zargham)