Celebrity website TMZ and other media reported the 72-year-old actor was piloting a vintage two-seater plane, crash landing Thursday afternoon on Penmar golf course in Venice, California.

Pictures showed the badly damaged plane with its nose cone ripped open. TMZ said Ford suffered multiple gashes to his head and was taken to hospital.

"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," said Nuria Vanegas, Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman.

"The incident was reported at 2:25 p.m. (22:25 UTC), it was mechanical failure of (the) plane, that's what caused the accident," Vanegas said.

A Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman would not identify Ford, and said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) would perform an investigation.

A witness told Reuters that he saw plane, which he believed to have 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," witness Carlos Lugo said.

Ford, a longtime aviation enthusiast, is best known for his roles in the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" franchises. He broke his leg last June on the set of the new "Star Wars" movie outside London.

jr/gsw (Reuters, AFP)