Six tragic accidents on famous movie sets

Behind movie scenes, cast and crew go through rigorous risk assessments to ensure the health and safety of those working on the film. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always predict, or prevent, on set accidents. Here are some of the worst accidents that have taken place on set.

Fatal accidents on iconic films

The Crow

Brandon Lee’s tragic death on set of 1994’s The Crow has become one of the most well-known accidents to occur during filming. When the script called for Lee’s character to be shot, no one could have predicted that the actor would be hit by debris coming from a blank cartridge within the prop gun, causing him to bleed to death.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Only days into shooting the final installment of The Maze Runner trilogy, lead actor Dylan O’Brien was hit by a vehicle after a stunt went horribly wrong. With the film due to be released in February 2017, production was halted to allow O’Brien to recover from the facial fractures and brain trauma sustained, eventually being released in January 2018.

Stunt accidents on major productions

Top Gun

Tom Cruise is no stranger to on set accidents but it was the death of stunt pilot Art Scholl which adds tragedy to the otherwise upbeat film. His stunt plane crashed into the sea and could not be recovered.

The Dark Knight

Although Heath Ledger’s accidental death off set made The Dark Knight infamous, the death of stuntman Conway Wickliffe adds this movie to the list. Whilst practising a stunt, the driver of Wickliffe’s vehicle lost control and hit a tree. The driver was uninjured but Wickliffe unfortunately died at the scene.

More tragic incidents on set

Twilight Zone

The accident that took place on set of the 1983 film highlighted the need for stringent health and safety laws during film productions. Even small events should be covered by Events Medical Cover, such as https://www.outdoormedicalsolutions.co.uk/event-medical-cover/ should the worst happen. In the film, Vic Morrow’s character is carrying two children to safety, however, a stunt explosion caused damage to a helicopter which was being used in the scene, causing it to fall to the ground killing all three.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

When a cable snapped free from the car it was holding, extra Gabriela Cedillo was hit leaving her with irreversible brain damage. A lawsuit was brought against Paramount Pictures which eventually ended with Cedillo receiving $18m.

Summary

This article looks at six tragic film-set accidents, including Brandon Lee’s fatal shooting on The Crow and stuntman Conway Wickliffe’s death filming The Dark Knight. It also covers Dylan O’Brien’s injuries on Maze Runner, pilot Art Scholl’s fatal crash during Top Gun, the fatal Twilight Zone accident, and a snapped cable on Transformers: Dark of the Moon that left an extra with brain damage.

Questions this article raises

• Did any of these on-set accidents lead to changes in film safety regulations?
• How much compensation is typically awarded in film set injury lawsuits?
• Were any of the productions involved ever held criminally responsible?