Filmed at night, the scene was a direct violation of child labor laws in the first place, requiring Morrow’s character to run away with two children across a river from an abandoned village. At the same time, American soldiers had to “chase” them in airborne helicopters. Dorcey Wingo, an actual Vietnam veteran, was on site flying the helicopter.
While hovering close to the effect of a large explosion, Wingo positioned the aircraft close to the ground and then rotated 180 degrees for the next launch. The special effect exploded while the helicopter’s tail rotor was flying directly above, and the metal cap from the explosion hit the rotor, causing the aircraft to spin out of control. In the ensuing trial, the defense argued that the special effects exploded prematurely.
The three actors on the ground were unable to escape the falling aircraft or its blades and were killed instantly. Chen was crushed to death by the right landing skid, and the still-spinning blades of the helicopter decapitated Morrow and Le. The New York Times reported that the helicopter sequence was “poorly planned” and “poorly rehearsed.” An investigation was conducted surrounding the unfortunate incident between 1986 and 1987, and five crew members, including Dorcey Wingo, were tried for murder and later acquitted.
What’s the strangest part about the whole situation? Nine years earlier, in 1973, Morrow insisted on getting life insurance while filming a scene that required a helicopter ride. When asked why he was so reluctant to do a scene like this, Morrow reportedly responded, “I always had a premonition that I was going to die in a helicopter crash.”
