Actors who Survived Plane Crashes
Some of Hollywood’s biggest names have faced real-life aviation emergencies and lived to tell the tale. From crash-landings on golf courses to wartime ditchings at sea and mid-air collisions, these actors walked away from incidents that could have ended very differently—and the details show just how dangerous flying can be when things go wrong.
Harrison Ford
On March 5, 2015, Harrison Ford crash-landed a vintage Ryan ST3KR trainer on the Penmar Golf Course in Los Angeles after reporting engine failure shortly after takeoff from Santa Monica Airport. First responders described his injuries as moderate, and investigators noted he attempted to return to the runway before striking a tree and coming down on the fairway. No one on the ground was hurt, and federal authorities opened routine inquiries into the mechanical failure. Ford, an experienced pilot, has had several aviation incidents, but this 2015 crash-landing is the most widely documented.
Patrick Swayze
On June 1, 2000, Patrick Swayze made an emergency landing in Prescott Valley, Arizona, while piloting a twin-engine Cessna 414A en route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, New Mexico. The aircraft clipped objects during the landing and sustained damage, but Swayze was uninjured and walked away. Reports at the time cited a pressurization issue as the reason for the unscheduled landing, and the Federal Aviation Administration reviewed the circumstances. Local and national outlets covered the incident extensively the day it happened.
Clint Eastwood
As a 21-year-old Army draftee in 1951, Clint Eastwood was a passenger on a Navy aircraft that ran out of fuel and ditched in rough seas off Point Reyes, California. He and the pilot swam to shore using a life raft and were later recovered by authorities; contemporary and later accounts describe communications and oxygen problems before the water landing. The episode occurred years before Eastwood’s film career and has been referenced in interviews and retrospectives. It remains one of the better-documented celebrity survival stories involving a forced ocean ditching.
Kirk Douglas
On February 13, 1991, Kirk Douglas survived a mid-air collision when the Bell JetRanger helicopter he was riding in collided with a small plane near Santa Paula, California. Two people in the fixed-wing aircraft were killed, while Douglas and others in the helicopter were injured but survived. Coverage at the time detailed the collision over the airport area and subsequent investigations into fault. Douglas later spoke about how the crash influenced his life and perspective.
Have another name to add to the list? Share your thoughts—and any verified stories we missed—in the comments!
