The helicopter reality show crash that killed three people on Sunday is the second helicopter crash and the third deadly incident within just a few miles. In 1982, just 25 miles away from Sunday’s helicopter crash site, actor Vic Morrow and two children were killed in another helicopter crash while filming the "Twilight Zone" movie. A third death occurred last September, when a 48-year-old crew member died while filming the Johnny Depp film “The Lone Ranger.”
According to a Feb. 11, 2013, Fox News report, last September’s accident with the 48-year-old was not due to a helicopter crash but a scuba diving incident. The cause of death was ruled an apparent heart attack.
Sunday’s third accident does not only question the safety of reality shows but also the safety of filming helicopter scenes and other dangerous scenes in such rugged canyon terrain. Polsa Rosa has been used in scenes for “Windtalkers” and last year’s remake of "Red Dawn."
The 1982 helicopter crash that killed actor Vic Morrow and two children during the filming of the "Twilight Zone" movie resulted in involuntary manslaughter charges against the movie’s producer John Landis and four others. However, all were acquitted.
The 1982 helicopter crash did result in film production restrictions
Sunday morning’s Bell 206B Jet Ranger helicopter crash that took the lives of three people while taping a yet unnamed military series for Discovery Channel which involves JD Roth and Todd Nelson' s Eyeworks USA (formerly 3 Ball Prods) occurred around 3:40 a.m. local time.
According to Los Angeles County Fire dispatcher Robert Diaz, the helicopter crash happened on the Polsa Rosa Movie Ranch, 5726 Soledad Canyon Road near Acton, a residential community about 76 km north of downtown Los Angeles.
“Television footage showed mangled wreckage in a rugged canyon area near Soledad Canyon Road.”
The Polsa Rosa movie ranch is a well-known Southern California TV show and commercial location offered for rent to production companies. The Polsa Rosa website advertises that it has two airstrips, railroad tracks, a film water tank, jungle & forest with running river, miles of roads through all terrains with bridges and river crossings, and a “New England Styled Period Township with Eight Structures.”
Sunday morning’s helicopter crash that killed three people is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to the Global Times, all three people killed in the helicopter crash “were thrown out of the aircraft and pronounced dead at the scene.”
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