Harrison Ford told air traffic controllers at a California airport "I'm the schmuck that landed on the taxiway", after he narrowly avoided a passenger plane carrying 116 people, an audio recording has revealed.

The Indiana Jones star mistakenly flew his single-engine plane just feet above a taxiing airliner at John Wayne Airport in Orange County last month.

In the audio recording he tells air traffic control he was "distracted" by the moving aeroplane and was dealing with turbulence from an Air Bus.

The air traffic controller is heard telling Ford, 74, to take his time finding his pilot's licence, adding that it is "no big deal".

"It's a big deal for me," Ford replies.

Ford landed his plane on a taxiway on 13 February, inadvertantly buzzing an American Airlines 737.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which released the audio recording, is investigating the incident.

Landing on a taxiway instead of a runway is a breach of federal aviation regulations.

A video released last month showed Ford's Aviat Husky plane as it descended towards the airfield where an American Airlines Boeing 737 was slowly taxiing.

"Was that airliner meant to be underneath me?" Ford asked the air traffic control tower as he landed in the wrong spot.

"Oh. I landed on Taxiway Charlie. I understand now. Sorry for that," he added.

Ford had a serious accident in March 2015 when his private plane crashed on a Los Angeles golf course after engine failure.