This day in history: The Twilight Zone Movie deaths happened on this day in 1982. In the early morning hours of July 23, 1982, actors Vic Morrow and seven-year-old Myca Dinh Le, and six-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were filming on location in California, in an area that was known as Indian Dunes, near Santa Clarita. The helicopter was hovering at approximately 24 feet above them when the heat from special effect pyrotechnic explosions reportedly delaminated the rotor blades and caused the helicopter to crash on top of them, killing all three instantly. Morrow and Le were decapitated and mutilated by the helicopter rotor blades, while Chen was crushed by a helicopter strut.
The accident led to civil and criminal action against the filmmakers which lasted nearly a decade. Le's father Daniel Lee testified that he heard Director John Landis instructing the helicopter to fly lower. The parents testified that they were never told that there would be helicopters or explosives on set, and they had been reassured that there would be no danger, only noise. Lee survived the Vietnam War and immigrated with his wife to the United States, and he was horrified when the explosions began on the Vietnamese village set, bringing back memories of the war.
John Landis, production manager Allingham, and explosives specialist Paul Stewart were tried and acquitted on charges of manslaughter in a nine-month trial in 1986 and 1987. Vic Morrow's family settled within a year; the children's families collected millions of dollars from several civil lawsuits.
While relatively safe, helicopter accidents do happen.
"Since 1980, no fewer than 33 TV and film workers have been killed in mishaps involving helicopters, and one such freak accident in 1981 took the life of veteran director Boris Sagal, whose daughter Katey has gone on to television stardom in series such as Married... With Children and Sons of Anarchy."~Mike Floorwater
The fatal accident rate (the number of accidents that resulted in one or more fatalities) for all helicopters in the United States was 0.72 per 100,000 flight hours in 2018, according to the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team.
In contrast, the fatal accident rate for general aviation (an industry term for noncommerical or smaller private planes), was 1.029 accidents per 100,000 flight hours in 2018, the most recent year for which NTSB data is available.
Others who died during the production of a movie were Brandon Lee (shot), John Ritter (a tear in his aorta), Redd Fox (massive heart attack), Steve Irwin (stabbed by a stingray) and Bruce Lee collapsed while filming The Game of Death and died 2 months later.
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