
A bleary-eyed Calista Flockhart emerged looking emotional after visiting her husband Harrison Ford in hospital who broke his pelvis crash-landing his vintage plane on a golf course.

Ford, 72, deliberately steered his 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR into the ground when the engine failed as he flew over Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon.

A video has since emerged of the moment the Star Wars actor plummeted out of the sky, showing golfers gasping and running in shock.

As Ford descended, the people on the ground at Penmar Golf Course in Venice, Los Angeles, were captured on film gaping open-mouthed at the sky before running out of the way.

This afternoon, Ford received a visit in hospital from his 50-year-old wife, who was seen looking emotional in her car.

A doctor has revealed Ford was moaning in pain, slumped over in the cockpit, when he landed.

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Emotional: Calista Flockhart pictured near Brentwood, Los Angeles, after visiting her husband Harrison Ford in hospital

The 50-year-old Ally McBeal star, who stars in the upcoming show Super Girl, has been married to Ford for five years. They met in 2002

Tough to handle: Flockhart has rushed to Ford's side in hospital a number of times in the past few months due to injuries

The actress looked visibly upset and blew her nose after dropping off their youngest son Dylan in the town center

Panic: Golfers at the Penmar Golf Course in Los Angeles looked around in shock then ran as Harrison Ford plummeted from the sky

Crash landing: Ford, 72, suffered a broken ankle and a broken pelvis after deliberately crashing his spitfire into the course

The 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR plane that Ford crashed onto a golf course in Venice, California, is removed on Friday

Experts say the spitfire was perfectly landed in a way that all well-trained pilots are taught to handle an emergency

The front of the plane was crushed but the cockpit remained relatively intact

'He was stunned a bit,' said spinal surgeon Sanjay Khurana. 'He was moaning and in pain.'

'It was obvious by his face, it was Harrison Ford. I'm old enough, or young enough, to have watched all his 'Star Wars' films. So, it was obvious,' Khurana told ABC News.

Dr Khurana was golfing next to Santa Monica Airport when he saw the plane 'belly flop' and rushed to the fairway where it came to rest.

He told TV stations in Los Angeles and GMA that aside from worrying about Ford's injuries from the impact, he saw fuel leaking out of the World War II-era plane.

He and other golfers pulled Ford from the wreckage. Others threw dirt on the fuel so it wouldn't catch fire.

Along with his friends who were golfing, Dr Khurana pulled Ford from the wreckage as the smell of gasoline filled the air.

'We wanted to get him out safely and with the fuel leaking out, I motioned to some of the other folks at the golf course to put dirt on the fuel so it wouldn’t combust,' he said to CBS News.

'I just wanted to get him out safely so that the situation wouldn’t erupt into a fire.'

First on the scene: Luckily for Harrison Ford Dr. Khurana was playing a round of golf on the course and rushed to aid the stricken Hollywood superstar

Medical response: Dr. Khurana is seen standing over Harrison Ford who is being tended to by paramedics in the moments immediately after his plane crash

First responders: Celebrity website TMZ reported that Ford suffered multiple gashes to his head and was bleeding profusely

Care: Paramedics work on Harrison Ford, who has both his legs arched as he lays on the ground - a good sign according to medical professionals

The 72-year-old actor, who has been a licensed pilot for nearly two decades, fell into difficulties during his afternoon flight and realized he was unable to make the runway at Santa Monica Airport, so picked a long green at the nearby Penmar golf course to land out of the way of the congested neighborhood.

Ford saved lives by his heroic swerving of the plane away from people's homes, witnesses said.

Eddie Aguglia, who was playing golf at the time, told NBC: 'Looking at where he crashed and how the plane went down, I'm sure there was a moment where he said, ''I'm not going to risk lives, whatever happens, happens. It's going to be just me.'''

After plunging 3,000ft and hitting a tree on the way down, Ford was rushed from the scene bleeding heavily from a head wound and suffering a broken ankle and pelvis.

One hour before: Harrison Ford is pictured here grabbing lunch at deli and bakery, Gjusta, in Venice, California, just before he piloted his own plane and crash landed onto Penmar Golf Course's seventh hole shortly after take-off

Recovery: News crews outside UCLA Hospital where Harrison Ford is recuperating following his plane crash on Thursday

Crash land: Actor Harrison Ford was rushed to the hospital on Thursday after crashing a vintage plane on a Venice, California golf course

Engine failure: In air traffic control audio, a clam Ford said that his engine failed as he asked for permission to land. He didn't make it to the airport, and instead landed at nearby Penmar golf course

Hospitalized: Authorities initially reported that Ford was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but his condition was later downgraded to fair to moderate

Ford crashed into the Penmar golf course (left) after appearing to veer off course from the runway (right) in order to avoid homes in between

His injuries were described only as 'moderate' and he is expected to make a full recovery.

'At the hospital. Dad is ok. Battered, but ok! He is every bit the man you would think he is. He is an incredibly strong man,' his son Ben Ford tweeted just two hours after the crash. 'Thank you all for your thoughts and good vibes for my dad.'

Ford's publicist Ina Treciokas said on Thursday that the actor had no other choice but to make an emergency landing.

In a statement, she said: 'Harrison was flying a WW2 vintage plane today which stalled upon takeoff. He had no other choice but to make an emergency landing, which he did safely.

'He was banged up and is in the hospital receiving medical care.'

She added his injuries 'are not life threatening, and he is expected to make a full recovery'.

The fact that Ford escaped the crash with just a few injuries is not surprising to those who have flown with him.

Ford first started flying in the 1960s, but didn't have the money or time for regular lessons until later in life - becoming a licensed pilot in 1996.

Seasoned aviator: Ford, who has been flying planes since the 1960s, was the only person in the plane at the time of the crash

Crash site: Firefighters who responded to the crash scene say Ford was alert and conscious when they pulled him from the World War II-era plane

'Harrison's been a great pilot. You can see by the fact that he survived this forced landing that he is a skilled aviator,' Paul Mitton, who produced a documentary about Ford's love of flying, told CNN.

'Just looking at the crash site, you see the trees nearby there's a tree not too far behind the aircraft.

'Had the wing clipped that, the airplane could have spun around, he could have been ejected, he could have ended up upside down. That would have been bad,' Mitton added.

Aviation expert Rick Dake told People that Ford's landing was amazing considering the unforgiving nature of the World War II-era plane.

'Everything he did was perfect,' Dake, of Aviation Consulting Experts, told People.

He says less-experienced pilots training on the plane during World War II would often crash because the plane tended to flip when the engine fails.

'That alone is testament to the great ability Harrison Ford had. He made a 180-degree turn with the engine seizing up on him. He almost made it to the runway,' Dake said.

'He was able to keep that plane away from the houses and land it with the least impact on the community. That was the best place he could have landed it.

'He was 100 per cent doing exactly what an excellent aviator would do.'

Taken to local hospital: The father-of-five is reportedly sustained 'head injuries' and was seen on a gurney on Thursday

Injury prone: Thursday's crash comes just months after Ford, 72, was airlifted from the set of the new Star Wars movie for an ankle injury. Pictured on the left at a film premiere in October 2013, and with wife Calista Flockhart at the 2014 Academy Awards on the right

After take-off Ford called back to to the air traffic control tower, saying his engine had unexpectedly died and he needed clearance to land.

The air traffic controllers gave Ford permission to return to the runway - but the actor's plane couldn't make the journey. Instead he glided the plane down onto a green at the local golf course.

One witness, who was golfing at the time, said she watched the small plane perform a 'nose dive straight on the 8th hole tee box.'

The woman, who says she was one of the first people to rush towards the scene, told TMZ that 'four or five removed the pilot from the plane.

'They were concerned it would catch on fire,' she told TMZ.

She added the actor 'was conscious, talking a little' but had a deep gash on his head.

'A swath of his skin was missing,' she said. 'There was blood dripping down his face.'

Twitter user Alex Miller posted that his mother was golfing on the hole where Ford crashed and rushed to aide the actor who 'seemed ok'.

Golf course employee Howard Tabe told NBC News: 'There was blood all over his face. ... Two very fine doctors were treating him, taking good care of him. I helped put a blanket under his hip.'

Spine surgeon Sanjay Khurana was on the seventh hole of the golf course when Ford’s plane clipped a tree.

He immediately dropped his clubs and ran to help. With the help of fellow golfers, he pulled the actor from the wreckage after noticing fuel leaking from the plane.

History: This isn't the first time Ford has crashed an aircraft. He crash landed a helicopter in 1999 during a training flight. Ford and his instructor were only minorly injured in the crash

Sputtering noise: Witnesses heard Ford's plane make a sputtering noise before he crash landed on the golf course Thursday afternoon

Older model: It's believed Ford was flying a Ryan PT-22 Recruit - a plane used to train pilots in World War II

Expert flyer: Friends who have flown with Ford described the actor as a careful and experienced pilot. However, this isn't the first time Ford has been involved in a crash.

Patrick Butler of the Los Angeles Fire Department says he's responded to plane crashes in the area before and says Ford is lucky to be alive

HARRISON'S BRAVADO EQUALS THAT OF HAN SOLO AND INDIANA JONES Harrison Ford is as much the daredevil in real life as Han Solo, Indiana Jones or the other larger-than-life characters he's played on the screen. While his fictional adventures in "Star Wars" and as bold archaeologist Jones have thrilled audiences, the star has run into real-life danger - and sometimes pain - while indulging in his love of aviation, fast driving and the unpredictability of filmmaking. On Thursday, the actor's vintage plane crash-landed on a golf course in Los Angeles shortly after taking off from a nearby airport. Ford, 72, who had reported engine failure to air-traffic controllers, suffered moderate injuries and was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Beyond joy-riding in the skies, Ford also employs his skills as a pilot, acquired in his mid-50s, to help in search-and-rescue efforts. Here are a few of his closer brushes, some more dramatic than others, as well as heroic moments: Ford is best known for his brave film characters Han Solo (left) from Stars Wars and Indiana Jones (right) The scar on his face that lends him a rakish look was earned, he's said, in "a mundane way." In 1964, he was speeding to a job at a department store in Orange County, California, when his car veered off the road and into a telephone pole as he fumbled for his seat belt. In 1999, Ford crash-landed his helicopter during a training flight in which he and an instructor were practicing auto rotations in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles. Ford and the instructor were unhurt. He used his helicopter in 2000 to pluck an Idaho Falls, Idaho, hiker off 11,106-foot Table Mountain in Teton County, Wyoming, and fly her to a hospital. One year later, Ford and another searcher helped find a missing Boy Scout in a forest south of Yellowstone National Park. "Boy, you sure must have earned a merit badge for this one," said Ford told the cold and hungry teenager after whisking him to safety by chopper. Ford was at the helm of a Beechcraft Bonanza in 2000 when wind shear forced him to make an emergency landing at Lincoln Municipal Airport in Nebraska. Ford and his passenger were uninjured when the plane clipped the runway and its wing tips were damaged, officials said. Last year, he was filming "Star Wars: Episode VII" in a studio outside London when a door of Solo's Millennium Falcon spacecraft fell and broke the actor's leg, requiring surgery on it. He recovered and returned to complete his work on the movie. (Associated Press) Advertisement

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Patrick Jones speaks to reporters at a press conference Thursday evening. He says an investigation into what caused the crash may take several months

The golf course is just a block from the tarmac at Santa Monica Airport, where Ford keeps his collection of planes.

Neighbor Carlos Gomez, 39, told Daily Mail Online that he witnessed the aftermath of the crash.

'I didn’t [know] who he was. I just saw the guy in the plane and people try to help him and pull him out of the plane,' Gomez said. 'He was on the ground and then the guy started moving and I was like good he is alive.

Carlos said he didn’t hear engine trouble.

‘I just heard the big noise [The crash].'

Witness Cynthia Madrid told local news outlets that it looked like the plane's engine was 'sputtering' on and off while it was flying towards the beach.

Madrid says she saw the plane start to go down but noticed there was no smoke.

Ford was flying a Ryan PT-22 Recruit - a plane used to train pilots in World War II.

The National Transportation Security Board will investigate the crash in a process that could take up to a year before a final report.

NTSB investigator Patrick Jones said: 'we're going to look at everything: weather, man, the machine.'

Thursday's crash comes just months after Ford was airlifted from the set of the upcoming Star Wars movie after suffering an ankle injury.