Harrison Ford is "banged up" but expected to make a full recovery after crash-landing a vintage plane on a Los Angeles golf course, the actor’s representative said.

Ina Treciokas, Ford’s publicist, said his World War II-era plane had engine trouble after taking off from the Santa Monica Municipal Airport and he had no choice but an emergency landing.

The plane crash-landed around 2:20 p.m. Thursday at Penmar Golf Course in the Venice area of Los Angeles.

Authorities said earlier in the evening that the pilot was "conscious and breathing" when he was rescued by bystanders at the golf course. They did not confirm the pilot’s identity, citing privacy laws.

During a press conference, Patrick Butler of the Los Angeles Fire Department said that the pilot suffered "moderate trauma," and that he was only person on the plane.

Patrick Jones, an investigator for the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, said later on Thursday that Ford reported a loss of engine power and was attempting to return to the runway at the Santa Monica Airport.

Butler said that the aircraft appeared to have clipped a tree before crash-landing on the golf course in what he classified as a "medium to high impact."

He added that the pilot was lucky to have survived.

"Normally the outcomes are fatalities, so yes we are very thankful the passenger -- from what it appears right now -- has moderate injuries," Butler said.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is on scene and is co-ordinating with the NTSB.

Jeff Kuprycz says he was golfing when he saw the plane taking off.

"Immediately you could see the engine started to sputter and just cut out, and he banked sharply to the left," he said. "He ended up crashing around the eighth hole,” he said.

"There was no explosion or anything. It just sounded like a car hitting the ground or a tree or something. Like that one little bang, and that was it," Kuprycz said.

Ford's son, Ben, tweeted on Thursday night that his father was "battered, but OK."

Ford, 72, is an avid flyer of both planes and helicopters, and he has had his pilot's licence for 19 years.

The "Star Wars" actor had also previously been involved in a helicopter crash 16 years ago, but managed to escape the incident without injury.

Many people reached out on Twitter to express their concern for the movie icon.

With files from The Associated Press