Celebrity pilot Harrison Ford was forced to make an emergency landing on a California golf course on Thursday (05Mar15) after experiencing a mechanical issue while flying a two-seater vintage fighter plane.

Reports suggest the actor was taken to hospital after he crashed the World War Two aircraft on Penmar Golf Course, minutes after taking off from nearby Santa Monica Airport.

Sources tell Tmz.com the Star Wars actor suffered multiple gashes to his head and was treated at the golf course by two doctors before paramedics arrived and carried him to an ambulance on a stretcher.

Howard Tabe, an employee at the Penmar Golf Course, tells NBC News, "There was blood all over his face... Two very fine doctors were treating him, taking good care of him. I helped put a blanket under his hip."

Ford, who is in a stable condition in Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, was the only person onboard the plane.

National Transportation Safety Board officials are investigating the incident.

This is not the first time Ford has been involved in a plane crash - a six-passenger plane he was piloting took a hard landing in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the summer of 2000 and the actor also crash-landed a helicopter in October, 1999.

Celebrities have taken to social media to offer Ford their support - Melissa Joan Hart, Dane Cook, Josh Gad and filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan were among the friends and fans sending prayers and thoughts on Twitter.com, while Star Trek icon William Shatner, who is still recovering from the death of his friend Leonard Nimoy last week (27Feb15), writes, "Thoughts going out to Harrison Ford for a speedy recovery."