Harrison Ford narrowly missed striking a packed passenger jet carrying 116 people after getting confused over where he was supposed to land, according to reports.

The Hollywood star, who holds a private pilot license, only just overshot the American Airlines plane after accidentally coming down on a taxiing lane instead of a runway in California, according to NBC News.

He was reportedly then caught on air traffic recordings asking: "Was that airliner meant to be underneath me?"

Ford's famed Star Wars character Han Solo would never be caught making such a basic error.

But it was just the latest in a series of mishaps for the actor, who has repeatedly come to grief while flying his collection of vintage small planes.

Ford crashed a World War II era plane on a golf course in Los Angeles in 2015 after suffering engine problems.

He also downed a helicopter in 1999 during a training session.

However, Ford, who trained as a pilot in the 1950s, is generally considered to be an good pilot in flying circles.

The passenger plane in the latest incident suffered no damage and was able to take off for Dallas as planned shortly afterwards.

Ford may be left to answer a few questions though, as landing in a taxi lane breaches national regulations.

An investigation into the accident has since reportedly been launched, which could hit the actor with sanctions up to the loss of his pilot's license.