Actor Harrison Ford is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration after landing his private plane on a taxiway at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, on Monday, instead of on the runway as instructed. Ford's mix-up caused him to fly right over an American Airlines passenger plane that NBC News reported was "loaded with 110 passengers and a six-person crew." The plane, headed for Dallas, safely departed the airport minutes after the close call.
Ford can be heard asking on air traffic control recordings, "Was that airliner meant to be underneath me?" At this point, air traffic controllers informed the 74-year-old actor that he had landed on the taxiway, which is a violation of FAA safety rules.
This isn't Ford's first risky flight either. A longtime collector of vintage planes, Ford just two years ago crashed a 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR on a California golf course after the engine failed. In 2000, Ford's aircraft "scraped the runway" when he was making an emergency landing at Lincoln Municipal Airport in Nebraska, and before that, in 1999, Ford "crash-landed" a helicopter when he was taking a flight lesson, NBC News reported.
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But Ford has had his good moments as a pilot, too. NBC noted he's even been inducted as a Living Legend of Aviation.
Depending on what the FAA investigation concludes, Ford could receive a warning letter, or his license could be suspended.
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