article_snippet: The document, issued by the National Transportation Safety Board, describes how the 72-year-old actor reported an engine failure shortly after taking off from Santa Monica  Airport last Thursday.
article_snippet: the 72-year-old actor then alerted air traffic controllers and turned back toward the airport, the report states.
article_snippet: Wrecked: The document, issued by the NTSB, describes how the 72-year-old actor reported an engine failure shortly after taking off from Santa Monica Airport last Thursday.
article_snippet: Document: actor Harrison Ford then alerted air traffic controllers and turned back toward the airport, the report (pictured) states.
article_snippet: The preliminary report explains how the 72-year-old actor was flying the 72-year-old actor World War II-era training plane under visual flight rules on the day of the crash.
article_snippet: This meant the 72-year-old actor did not need to submit a flight plan.
article_snippet: This added that 'visual meteorological conditions prevailed', but that following the aircraft's takeoff from runway 21, 'the pilot advised of an engine failure and requested an immediate return to the airport'.
article_snippet: Investigators at the scene: The preliminary report explains how the actor was flying the actor World War II-era training plane under visual flight rules on the day of the crash, meaning the actor did not need to submit a flight plan .
highlights_snippet: Actor, 72, then alerted air traffic controllers and turned back to the airport .
  