Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart 'needed' foster dogs after his 2015 plane crash

Harrison Ford kept two foster dogs because his family "needed them" for comfort after his horror plane crash in 2015.

The Hollywood actor, 79, and his wife Calista Flockhart, 57, have fostered many pooches over the years.

And after the pilot was left with a broken pelvis and ankle when his aircraft suffered engine failure and made an emergency landing in March 2015, the couple decided to keep their canine companions as they'd become like family during the difficult time.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times newspaper conducted at their home with four pooches by her side, including pit bull rescue Coco, Calista said: “And so we kept them because we all needed them. And they needed us, or we needed them more than they needed us probably."

The 'Indiana Jones' star previously insisted the crash wasn't enough to put him off flying.

He said: "It was one time - and I didn't crash, the plane crashed. I didn't get right out of it, but I'm fine now, it took a while."

Asked if it had put him off flying, he added: "No, it's a big part of who I am."

In 2020, Harrison was ordered to take a training course following an improper runway crossing in April that year.

The 'Star Wars' actor ran into trouble when he was told to hold short of the runway at Hawthorne Airport in California because another aircraft was practicing touch-and-go landings there, but he still crossed and taxied to the other end after mishearing his instructions.

And following an investigation into the incident by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Harrison had his name cleared of any wrongdoing, on the basis that he agreed to take a special training course to help him brush up on his runway knowledge.

Harrison was required to take a "remedial runway incursion training course," and when he successfully completed it, the FAA closed the book on his case with no additional action.

The actor alarmed the tower operator at the time of his mishap, after they told him to "hold short" of his landing because of "traffic on the runway".

However, he accelerated onto the runway and began crossing, with the operator angrily saying the veteran pilot had ignored his instructions.

Harrison profusely apologised and said he thought he was told he had been cleared to cross the runway.

There was no danger of the aircrafts crashing because the other plane was 3,600 feet away from Harrison's when it hit the runway and was up in the air again long before reaching the area where the actor was.

A spokesperson for the actor said: "Mr. Ford crossed the airport's only runway in his aircraft after he misheard a radio instruction from ATC.

"He immediately acknowledged the mistake and apologised to ATC for the error. The purpose of the flight was to maintain currency and proficiency of the aircraft."