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The '''''Twilight Zone'' tragedy''' occurred when a [[Bell UH-1 Iroquois]] helicopter crashed on July 23, 1982 at Indian Dunes in [[Valencia, Santa Clarita, California]], during the making of ''[[Twilight Zone: The Movie]]''. The crash killed three people on the ground: actor [[Vic Morrow]] and two child actors, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, and injuries to the six passengers. The incident led to years of civil and criminal action, and was directly responsible for the introduction of new procedures and safety standards within the filmmaking industry.
The '''''Twilight Zone'' tragedy''' occurred when a [[Bell UH-1 Iroquois]] helicopter crashed on July 23, 1982 at Indian Dunes in [[Valencia, Santa Clarita, California]], during the making of ''[[Twilight Zone: The Movie]]''. The crash killed three people on the ground: actor [[Vic Morrow]] and two child actors, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen; and injured the six passengers. The incident led to years of civil and criminal action, and was directly responsible for the introduction of new procedures and safety standards within the filmmaking industry.


==Background==
==Background==

Revision as of 10:39, 4 January 2014

Twilight Zone tragedy
A UH-1B similar to the accident helicopter
Accident
DateJuly 23, 1982
SiteValencia, Santa Clarita, California, United States
Aircraft typeBell UH-1B Iroquois
OperatorWestern Helicopters
RegistrationN87701
Passengers5
Crew1
Fatalities3 (on ground)
Injuries6
Survivors6

The Twilight Zone tragedy occurred when a Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter crashed on July 23, 1982 at Indian Dunes in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California, during the making of Twilight Zone: The Movie. The crash killed three people on the ground: actor Vic Morrow and two child actors, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen; and injured the six passengers. The incident led to years of civil and criminal action, and was directly responsible for the introduction of new procedures and safety standards within the filmmaking industry.

Background

In the movie, Morrow's character (Bill Connor) is a white male bigot who travels back in time to suffer through various eras of persecution, such as Nazi-occupied Europe and the racial segregation of the American South during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He then finds himself in the Vietnam War, where he decides to protect some Vietnamese children from American troops.[1]

Director John Landis broke California's child labor laws by hiring two child actors, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, without the required permits.[1] Landis and several other staff members were also responsible for a number of labor violations connected with other people involved in the accident, all of which came to light after the incident had occurred.[2][3]

The accident

The helicopter was piloted by Vietnam veteran Dorcey Wingo.[4][5] During the filming of a scene he stationed his helicopter 25 ft from the ground and, while hovering near a large mortar-effect, he turned the aircraft 180° to the left for the next camera shot.[6] The effect was detonated while the helicopter's tail-rotor was still above it, causing it to fail and detach from the tail. The low-flying helicopter spun out of control and crashed on top of Morrow and the two children. All three were killed, with Morrow and one child being decapitated by the helicopter's rotor blade.[2]

At the subsequent trial, the defense claimed that the explosions were detonated at the wrong time, "causing an unforeseeable accident." Randall Robinson, an assistant cameraman, testified that production manager Dan Allingham told Wingo "That's too much. Let's get out of here" when the explosions were detonated, but Landis shouted over the radio: "Get lower, lower. Get over." Robinson said that Wingo tried to leave the area but "we lost our control and regained it and then I could feel something let go and we began spinning around in circles."[7] Stephen Lydecker, also a camera operator, testified that Landis had earlier "shrugged off" warnings about the stunt with the comment "We may lose the helicopter." While Lydecker acknowledged that Landis may have been joking when he made the remark, he said: "I learned not to take anything the man said as a joke. It was his attitude. He didn't have time for suggestions from anybody."[8]

Investigation

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had only recently instigated regulations, in March that year, to define how aircraft were to be regulated during film and television productions; helicopters were not regulated though, as it only covered fixed-wing aircraft. As a result of this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended that the terms be extended to apply to all types of aircraft.[9] The NTSB conclusion recommended that the FAA should: "Extend the terms of FAA Order 8440.5A Section 5, Waiver of Section 91.79(a) and (c), Motion Picture and Television Flight Operations Manual, to require an FAA-approved flight operations manual for all types of aircraft."

Aftermath

The families of the victims filed lawsuits.[10] It was the first time in the history of Hollywood that a director was charged due to a fatality on a set.[11][12] The trial was described as "long, controversial and bitterly divisive".[11]

Morrow's family settled within a year;[10] the other case ended in 1987 with a verdict of not guilty.[13][14] The families nonetheless collected millions from several civil lawsuits.[11]

Mark Locher, a spokesman for the Screen Actors Guild, said at the conclusion of the trial: "The entire ordeal has shaken the industry from top to bottom... with every actor concerned about their own safety [and] studio managements saying 'let's not take a risk.'"[12] Warner Bros. set up dedicated safety committees to establish acceptable standards "for every aspect of filmmaking, from gunfire to fixed-wing aircraft to smoke and pyrotechnics."[4][12] The standards are regularly issued as Safety Bulletins and published as the Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) Safety Manual for Television & Feature Production. The IIPP manual, "a general outline of safe work practices to be used as a guideline for productions to provide a safe work environment", is distributed to all studio employees.[4][15]

The Directors Guild of America's safety committee began publishing regular safety bulletins for its members and established a telephone hotline "to enable directors to get quick answers to safety questions."[12][16] The guild also began to discipline its members for violations of its safety procedures on sets, which it had not done prior to the crash.[12] The Screen Actors Guild introduced a 24-hour hotline and safety team for its members and "encouraged members to use the right of refusal guaranteed in contracts if they believe a scene is unsafe."[17]

Following the incident, accidents during filming between 1982-1986 fell by 69.6%, although there were still 6 deaths on sets.[12][17] Speaking in 1987, movie producer Saul David warned however: "I think ostensibly there will be more caution for a time. But, in effect, if they had the same shot to do again they would find a way to do it. If the audience says it wants more death-defying and terrible stunts, [the filmmakers] are going to give them more death-defying and terrifying stunts."[17]

John Landis's career was not significantly affected by the incident, although the director said in 1996: "There was absolutely no good aspect about this whole story. The tragedy, which I think about every day, had an enormous impact on my career, from which it may possibly never recover."[11][17][18]

Film director Steven Spielberg, who co-produced the film with Landis, broke off their friendship following the tragedy.[5][19] Spielberg said that the crash had "made me grow up a little more" and left everyone who worked on the movie "sick to the center of our souls."[20] With regard to how the crash had influenced people's attitudes towards safety he said:

No movie is worth dying for. I think people are standing up much more now than ever before to producers and directors who ask too much. If something isn't safe, it's the right and responsibility of every actor or crew member to yell, 'Cut!'[20]

References

  1. ^ a b Noe, Denise. "The Twilight Zone Tragedy: Introduction". Crime Library. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Noe, Denise. "The Twilight Zone Tragedy: Out of the Twilight Zone". Crime Library. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  3. ^ Murray, Robin L.; Heumann, Joseph K. Ecology and Popular Film: Cinema on the Edge. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. p. 17. ISBN 9780791477175.
  4. ^ a b c Weintraub, Robert (July 26, 2012). "A New Dimension of Filmmaking". Slate. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  5. ^ a b Farber, Stephen; Green, Marc (August 28, 1988). "TRAPPED IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE : A Year After the Trial, Six Years After the Tragedy, the Participants Have Been Touched in Surprisingly Different Ways". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  6. ^ SAFETY RECOMMENDATION(S) A-84-16 (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. 1984. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  7. ^ "Pilot Voiced Fears, 'Zone' Coworker Says". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. January 6, 1987. Retrieved December 23, 2013.  – via HighBeam (subscription required)
  8. ^ "'Twilight' Cameraman Lost Work". The Washington Post. Washington , D.C. January 8, 1987. Retrieved December 23, 2013.  – via HighBeam (subscription required)
  9. ^ Aircraft Accident Report Western Helicopters, Inc. Bell UH-1B, N87701 Valencia, California, July 23, 1982 (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. 1982. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Noe, Denise. "The Twilight Zone Tragedy: Funerals and Blame". Crime Library. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  11. ^ a b c d McBride, Joseph (2010). Steven Spielberg: A Biography. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. p. 344. ISBN 9781604738377. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  12. ^ a b c d e f Davis, Ivor (June 1, 1987). "Trial shakes film industry". The Times. London. p. 7.
  13. ^ Feldman, Paul (May 29, 1987). "John Landis Not Guilty in 3 'Twilight Zone' Deaths : Jury Also Exonerates Four Others". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  14. ^ Noe, Denise. "The Twilight Zone Tragedy: The Verdicts". Crime Library. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  15. ^ "Injury and Illness Prevention Program". Warner Bros. 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  16. ^ Thompson, Anne (September 8, 1988). "Unseemly Hush Greets 'Twilight Zone' Book". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  17. ^ a b c d Armstrong, Scott (June 1, 1987). "Filmmakers tackle safety issue". The Christian Science Monitor. Boston, MA. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  18. ^ Andrews, Nigel (August 5, 1996). "Golden boy howls at the moon: John Landis was feted in Hollywood for his comedies - then it all changed". Financial Times. London. p. 11.
  19. ^ Kirchner, Lisa (January 19, 2012). "An Interview with Director John Landis". cineAWESOME!. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  20. ^ a b McBride, Joseph (2010). Steven Spielberg: A Biography. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. p. 350. ISBN 9781604738360.

Further reading

  • Farber, Stephen; Green, Marc (June 1988). Outrageous Conduct: Art, Ego and the Twilight Zone Case. New York, NY: Arbor House/William Morrow. ISBN 9780877959489.
  • LaBrecque, Ron (1988). Special Effects: Disaster at "Twilight Zone" The Tragedy and the Trial. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0684189437.
  • Chopper Down: Helicopter Deaths In The Movies (movie)
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