Twilight Zone deaths and legal action against Landis
On July 23, 1982, during the filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie, actor Vic Morrow and child actors Myca Dinh Le (age 7) and Renee Shin-Yi Chen (age 6) were killed in an accident involving an out-of-control helicopter. The three were caught under the aircraft when it crashed, and Morrow and one child were decapitated.
In June 1983, Landis, associate producer George Folsey Jr., production manager Dan Allingham, head of special effects Paul Stewart, and helicopter pilot Dorcey Wingo were charged with involuntary manslaughter. In December, Morrow's daughters Jennifer Jason Leigh and Carrie Morrow also sued Landis, Wingo, Warner Bros. Studios, and others for negligence and wrongful death, resulting in Warner Bros. settling their case out of court, awarding $850,000 to each party. Following the accident, Spielberg ended his friendship with Landis.
In October 1984, the National Transportation Safety Board reported:
The probable cause of the accident was the detonation of debris-laden, high-temperature special effects explosions too near a low-flying helicopter, leading to foreign object damage to one rotor blade and delamination due to heat to the other rotor blade, the separation of the helicopter's tail rotor assembly, and the uncontrolled descent of the helicopter. The proximity of the helicopter to the special effects explosions was due to the failure to establish direct communications and coordination between the pilot, who was in command of the helicopter operation, and the film director, who was in charge of the filming operation.
The lawsuit finally proceeded in 1985. Landis insisted that the deaths of Morrow, Le, and Chen were the result of an accident. However, camera operators filming the scene testified to Landis being a very imperious director, and a "yeller and screamer" on set. During a take three hours before the incident, Wingo (a veteran of the Vietnam War) told Landis that the fireballs were too large and too close to the helicopter, to which Landis responded, "You ain't seen nothing yet." With special effects explosions blasting around them, the helicopter descended over Morrow, Le, and Chen. Witnesses testified that Landis was still shouting for the helicopter to fly "Lower! Lower!" moments before it crashed.
The prosecutors demonstrated that Landis was reckless and had not warned the parents, cast, or crew of the children and Morrow's proximity to explosives, or of limitations on their working hours. He admitted that he had violated California law regulating the employment of children by using the children after hours, and conceded that that was wrong, but still denied culpability. Metallurgist Gary Fowler testified that the heat from two explosions engulfed and delaminated the helicopter's tail rotor, causing it to fall off, and that there had been "no historical basis" for the phenomenon.
Deputy District Attorney Lea Purwin D'Agostino stated that Landis was acting "cool", "slippery", and "glib" during the trial, and that his testimony contained inconsistencies. After a 10-month jury trial that took place in 1986 and 1987, Landis—represented by criminal defense attorneys Harland Braun and James F. Neal—and the other crew members were acquitted of the charges.
Both Le's and Chen's parents later filed civil suits against Landis and other defendants and eventually settled out of court with the studio for $2 million per family. In 1988, Landis was reprimanded by the Directors Guild of America for unprofessional conduct on the set of the film and the California Labor Commission fined him $5,000 for violating child labor laws. Additionally, Cal/OSHA issued 36 citations and $62,375 in fines, although this amount was later reduced to $1,350. Warner Bros. vice president John Silvia also spearheaded a committee to create new safety standards for the film industry.
During an interview with journalist Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan, Landis said, "When you read about the accident, they say we were blowing up huts—which we weren't—and that debris hit the tail rotor of the helicopter—which it didn't. The FBI Crime Lab, who was working for the prosecution, finally figured out that the tail rotor delaminated, which is why the pilot lost control. The special effects man who made the mistake by setting off a fireball at the wrong time was never charged."
