Harrison Ford lands on taxiway KSNA
 

"Was that airliner meant to be underneath me?" :eek:

From previous published events, I thought it required an ATP rating to land on a taxiway.

;)

Looks like he flew one of his two Husky's, N89HU, down to SNA from Santa Monica.

The American flight he went over was AA 1456, not AA 1546 as reported in the link above and the incident occurred at about 2015Z on Monday.

He landed on taxiway C and overflew the B-738 which was holding on L short of 20L for takeoff on 20R.

He might very well have one. He got a Cessna 680 type rating at Flight Safety in Wichita a few years ago.

Not allowed to go Solo anymore ? ;)

Well, it's better than his "landing" on a golf course.

He needed Chewey next to him.

Just looking at the layout of the airport... that is a gotcha which has happened elsewhere as well to much more experienced folks...

If I get it from Airbubba's message, then it is not untypical what happened here.

Big Runway 20R, Small runway 20L and parallel TWY.

You know you need to go to the left runway which is smaller than the right one, for some reason fix on the right one and then think oh, hang on, need to go left again.

Happened to a BAC 111 at Gatwick many moons ago, BIA if I am not mistaken and scared the bejazis out of an opposite 737.

By the looks of it he must have seen the 737 and avoided it easily enough just wondering what the heck it was doing there instead of getting the idea that he was in the wrong place. One of these incidents where a flat forehead may well result in aftermath.

Well, nobody was hurt and wasn't likely to be hurt either. And if Harrison is a nice guy (which he is I understand) he'll write a nice "I learnt about flying from that" for all of us to help us understand why it happened so we can all learn from it.

I don't know about the local requirements in the US but having looked at Google Earth, I wonder:

This is a large airport by light aircraft standards so where are the piano keys marking the threshold for this runway?

Good question and pertinent to this event I would say. Runway 20L has what the FAA calls visual runway markings with no 'piano keys'. If the runway had instrument markings like 20R it would be easier to distinguish from the taxiway in my opinion. As you can see from Google Earth, the ramps, runways and taxiways are a hodgepodge of different shades of long narrow rectangles.

Some good information here in what used to be called the Airmen's Information Manual:

http://tfmlearning.fly.faa.gov/publi...2/aim0203.html

Who needs piano keys? I did some dual in a Pitts at SNA using the small runway. You don't see much ahead of you in a Pitts. O.K., you see nothing ahead of you. I seemed to be able to line up on the small runway without difficulty.

Was it really necessary to label this thread "Harrison Ford" lands on taxiway KSNA? Why not "Pilot" lands on taxi way KSNA or "light aircraft" lands on taxi way KSNA? It seems to me to be a bit odd. Administrator: take it down NOW before it is too late and it spreads all over the :mad: internet.

I've been operating out of KSNA for 50 years in everything from a 150 to a 757. Holding short of 20L on Lima is routine for airliners when 20R is landing a GA.

I'm guessing he gets a 709 ride.

IIRC, the golf course was a 'forced landing" after the engine quit...

Yes it was.

I seemed to be able to line up on the small runway without difficulty.
 

Lining up on a small runway is not the problem as this pilot successfully landed on an even smaller "runway." Identifying the correct runway to line up on is, and piano keys would have helped when a pilot is at his/her absolute busiest.

Jeez, ...
 

.... give the guy a break.

Nobody got hurt, nothing got bent, sh*t happens.

If you look at the airport layout it is an easy mistake to make.

Likely.

He was interviewed on The Actors' Studio TV show once, and a question came up about the dynamic rollover he had in a new Robinson during training.

Interviewer: And what happened to your helicopter?

Ford: It broke...........(long pause).............I broke it.

He'll 'fess up.

From the NBC News article from post #1

hey guys...give him a break will ya?......he's a living legend no less!

The prestigious Kiddie Hawk Air Academy has inducted him a legend along with the other remarkable people accomplished in aviation such as Paul Allen, Richard Branson, Jimmy Buffet, John Travolta and that famous aviator Tom Cruise (Maverick, don't ya know?).
:rolleyes:

Reported as Harrison Ford in near miss, rather than 110 fare paying passengers in near miss.

In media land, 110 of us, is not worth one of him:)