Harrison Ford has been hospitalized after surviving a near fatal plane crash Thursday (Mar. 5) on a Venice, California, golf course.

The iconic "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" actor sustained lacerations to the head and possible bone fractures that were originally described as “critical” before being downgraded to “serious."

According to NBC News Los Angeles, Ford was seriously injured after the single-engine vintage World War II training aircraft he was piloting crashed on the Penmar Golf Club at 2:24 p.m. shortly after takeoff.

Authorities are still investigating and have not released information on what caused the crash.

The 72-year old Ford, a longtime pilot, was flying solo from the Santa Monica airport when witnesses on the golf course saw the plane go down.

“We saw this beautiful plane, it looks like a plane I see often, leaving from Santa Monica Airport,” Howard Teba, who was on the golf course when the plane crashed, told NBC News. “Must have hit the top of a tree. There was blood all over his face. Two men who are apparently doctors were golfing at the time and came to the actor’s aid.”

Another eyewitness, a self-described plane enthusiast, gave a more detailed account to PEOPLE.

"He had engine failure during take-off from the Santa Monica Airport," the man said. "He was on the west side of the golf course and tried to get back to the airport, so he started going east, but then he clipped a tree and fell on the east side of the golf course. During takeoff, the engine blew. You could hear it go silent. And then he banked to the left, clipped the tree and fell on the number 8 tee."

The Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott has since confirmed that Ford, who was conscious and breathing before firefighters arrived, was the only person on the plane, no one was injured on the ground and is now listed in "fair to moderate" condition.

This story is still developing.