Harrison Ford, 80, Had Flashbacks To Near-Fatal Plane Crash While Filming ‘1923’

The legendary Hollywood star Harrison Ford was involved in a plane crash that nearly turned fatal back in March of 2015. Eight years later, Ford found himself having flashbacks to this incident while filming his show “1923” with Helen Mirren.

Ford’s Plane Crash Flashbacks

“When the scripts were coming, I was struck by how many major moments in my character’s life had a substantial and not coincidental shadow of the same things in my life,” Ford, 80, told People Magazine, referring to a “1923” scene in which his character is gravely injured.

“I watched a rehearsal with a stand-in being brought into the kitchen, and Helen [Mirren] coming in, sweeping everything off the counter, taking command….” he continued. “Even when I talk about it now, it emotionally relates to the airplane crash I had and what my wife went through.”

Ford went on to explain that this was not the only time that his character Jacob Dutton experienced something similar to an event that he’s been through himself.

“There have been five of six of those kinds of things that have shown up in the script, and it’s really remarkable,” he explained “There’s something that feels bigger than myself, and it’s great to be able to serve these ideas.”

Related: Harrison Ford Sends Brutal Message To His Haters – ‘I Know Who The F*** I Am’

Ford’s Plane Crash

Ford, who is a licensed pilot, was flying a vintage aircraft back in 2015 when it suffered engine failure, forcing him to make an emergency landing at a golf course near the Santa Monica Airport. Afterwards, his son Ben told fans that his father was “battered, but ok.”

Fox News reported that the crash left Ford with head injuries, broken bones and a scraped arm.

“Harrison was flying a WW2 vintage plane today which had engine trouble upon take off. He had no other choice but to make an emergency landing, which he did safely,” Ford’s publicist said afterwards in a statement. “He was banged up and is in the hospital receiving medical care. The injuries sustained are not life threatening, and he is expected to make a full recovery.”

Find out more about this crash in the video below.

Ford Discusses Crash

Months after the crash, Ford opened up about it in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel.

“I remember the engine stopping, I remember that part very well,” Ford said in October of 2015. “And then I remember telling the tower what I was going to do. And then I remember their suggestion. Their suggestion was that I take the normal route to land and I knew I wasn’t going to do that, so I said ‘no.'”

“And that’s the last thing that I remember until five days afterwards, actually,” he added. “I’m told by the doctors that the amount of general anesthetic that I got induced a retrograde amnesia.”

Related: Harrison Ford Defiantly Refuses To Retire At 80 – ‘I Just Want To Work’

Ford ‘Changed A Lot Of Things’ After The Crash

In February of this year, Ford revealed that his wife Calista Flockhart of “Ally McBeal” fame has refused to fly in vintage planes in the wake of this crash.

“I changed a lot of things in my life. My wife does not fly with me in vintage airplanes anymore—she will in others,” Ford told The Hollywood Reporter. “I certainly don’t want to have to recover from that kind of accident again. It was really hard on my family and it was hard on me.”

Ford, however, didn’t let this crash stop him from flying because he feels confident that he knows what went wrong.

“I know what happened. So that’s part of the reason [I went back],” he explained. “There was a mechanical issue with the airplane I could not have known about or attended to in any way. So in the words of the great philosopher Jimmy Buffett: [Expletive] happens.”

It’s certainly interesting that Ford’s own life experiences are being reflected in a show like “1923.” If you haven’t already, be sure to check out “1923” on Paramount +, as it is definitely worth the watch!