When it’s time to leave the protective bubble of your home with your child it can feel extremely scary, especially when they start getting the urge to branch out on their own. My son’s intense love of baseball started with a toddler tee in our backyard and blossomed into a full little league “career” by the age of 5. Since then he’s gotten hurt more times than I can count, and each time it happens there’s a little voice in my head that shames me for letting him do something “dangerous.” Whether it is ballet or baseball, parents are often confronted with just how much can go wrong in life.
But because we love our kids and want to see them live their dreams, we let go just a little bit. In that letting go, we’re trusting other people or organizations to do their best to keep our kids safe. Although some do as much as they can to insulate their children, accidents happen, and sometimes they are truly tragic.
In 1982, two child actors, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen were on the set of The Twlight Zone: The Movie, alongside A-lister Vic Morrow.
According to The Mirror, the four-segment anthology film adaptation of the popular 1960s TV series was set to star Morrow in his “Time Out” storyline which centered around his “racist” character’s experience in the Vietnam War. For that nighttime scene, Morrow was supposed to carry two children to a deserted village while being pursued by the US Army. A helicopter was hovering nearby on set with a full camera crew.
The film was being directed by several famed directors, including Steven Spielberg.
Morrow’s episode, however, was shot by John Landis, known for directing iconic comedies such as National Lampoon’s Animal House. The New York Times originally reported that debris from an explosion that detonated on set hit the helicopter’s rotor blades mid-scene, causing the pilot to lose control. The helicopter plummeted from the sky, reportedly decapitating Morrow and Le while crushing Chen to death.
”There was a village along a bluff being involved in war,” Los Angeles County fire inspector DeWitt Morgan told the newspaper at the time, describing the scene. ”They were going to have a helicopter doing rockets and bombs, explosions and fireballs. The debris from one explosion hit the tail rotor, and the helicopter landed in the river.”
Pilot Darcy Wingo received moderate injuries along with the camera operator, Roger Smith. Production manager Danny Alingham and Randal Robinson were both in good condition with minor injuries.
The Mirror added that the accident unfolded in front of the children’s parents.
Both civil and criminal charges were brought against the production crew, including Landis.
A nine-month trial ultimately led to an acquittal, freeing them of the charge of involuntary manslaughter. The parents of Le and Chen also reportedly sought out legal action against the studio but settled outside of court for an undisclosed amount.
Despite the heartbreaking accident, the movie continued filming and officially premiered in 1983. At least one good thing happened as a result of the accident: It forever changed the film industry and safety protocols for actors and stuntmen on set.
