BREAKING: Harrison Ford seriously injured in plane crash

[Marko Dash]

Golf courses seem to be an ideal ditching spot when in residential areas. wasn't Hughes aiming for one when he crashed in the XF-11?

[Mange]

Golf courses seem to be an ideal ditching spot when in residential areas. wasn't Hughes aiming for one when he crashed in the XF-11?

Yes, he aimed for the golf course at the Los Angeles Country Club, but crashed 300 yards short of it.

[Elheru Aran]

Big open spot with minimal trees, large stretches of nice soft grass... yeah. Not all that great for landing, but pretty decent for a ditching spot. I suspect Broomstick can confirm that (hopefully not from personal experience!).

[Broomstick]

Basically... yeah. In suburban/urban areas golf courses are one of the few relatively open spaces. There are still some obstacles like trees, but fewer. For smaller airplanes - like the one Ford was in - the grass is supportive enough for the landing gear. WWII and earlier airplanes, with the two big wheels in front and the little one behind, actually do better on turf than paved runways (unless they're so heavy they'd sink into soft ground).

No personal experience with landing on golf courses. My emergency landing was into someone's backyard hayfield. Same principle: minimal obstacles, available open space. In my case no damage to the machine and no injury to people, but a Cessna 150 is inherently more forgiving and easier to manage than the Ryan that Ford was flying.