![]() Let's get out of here," when the explosions were detonated, but Landis shouted over the radio: "Get lower. Randall Robinson, an assistant cameraman on board the helicopter, testified that production manager Dan Allingham told Wingo, "That's too much. Morrow and Le were decapitated and mutilated by the helicopter's main rotor blades while Chen was crushed to death by the helicopter's landing skid.Īt the subsequent trial, the defense claimed that the explosions were detonated at the wrong time. As Morrow was reaching out to grab Chen, the helicopter fell on top of Morrow and the two children. The low-flying helicopter spun out of control. The effect was detonated while the helicopter's tail-rotor was still above it, causing the rotor to fail and detach from the tail. During the filming of the scene, Wingo stationed his helicopter 25 feet (7.6 m) from the ground and, while hovering near a large mortar effect, he turned the aircraft 180 degrees to the left for the next camera shot. The helicopter was piloted by Vietnam War veteran Dorcey Wingo. ![]() The night scene called for Morrow's character to carry the two children across the river while being pursued by US soldiers in a helicopter. ![]() Additionally, Indian Dunes' 600 acres (2.4 km2) featured a wide topography-green hills, dry desert, dense woods, and jungle-like riverbeds along the Santa Clara River-that made it suitable to double for locations around the world, including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Brazil, and in particular, Vietnam. The location was extremely popular it was within the 30-mile zone, its wide-open area allowed for more pyrotechnic effects, and it was possible to shoot night scenes without city lights visible in the background. The filming location was a ranch known as Indian Dunes that was used through the 1980s in films and television shows, including The Color Purple, Escape From New York, MacGyver and China Beach. Morrow's friend and former Combat! co-star Dick Peabody wrote that Morrow's last words before the shot took place were: "I've got to be crazy to do this shot. A fire safety officer was concerned the blasts would cause a crash, but did not tell Landis of his concerns. told the children's parents not to tell any firefighters onset that the children were part of the scene, and also hid them from a fire safety officer who also worked as a welfare worker. The casting agents were unaware that the children would be involved in the scene. ![]() ![]() Landis opted not to seek a special waiver, either because he did not think he would get permission for such a late hour or because he knew he would never get approval to have young children as part of a scene with a large number of explosives. Le and Chen were being paid under the table to circumvent California's child labor laws, which did not permit children to work at night. 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. He then finds himself in the midst of the Vietnam War, where he decides to protect some Vietnamese children from American troops.ĭirector John Landis violated California's child labor laws by hiring 7-year-old Myca Dinh Le and 6-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen (Chinese: 陳欣怡 pinyin: Chén Xīnyí) without the required permits. The film featured four sequences, one of which was based on a 1961 Twilight Zone episode, "A Quality of Mercy." In the script, the character Bill Connor (Morrow) is a 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 mid-20th century. ![]()
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