Twilight Zone movie accident which killed two child actors remains one of the worst tragedies in film

The horrific Twilight Zone movie accident which killed two child actors and Hollywood star Vic Morrow remains one of the worst tragedies in film.

The 1983 flick was a film adaptation of the popular science fiction anthology TV series starring the likes of Morrow, who first rose to fame in the ABC drama series Combat! in the 1960s.

Morrow, who was 53, was on set filming a segment for the movie directed by John Landis when all hell broke loose.

The scene was meant to portray the actor saving two children, played by child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, from an attacking helicopter.

Warner Bros.

However, due to a fatal miscalculation of pyrotechnic explosions, the Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, which hovered only 25 feet above the three actors, was caught in the pyrotechnics.

The pilot subsequently lost control of the aircraft and crushed Chen, who was just six years old, to death before it decapitated both seven-year-old Dinh Le and Morrow.

Six passengers were also injured in the accident.

What's even worse?

The gruesome incident took place before a traumatised 100-member crew which included the parents of both children involved in the scene.

Additionally, if the scene was successfully completed, Morrow was scripted to say the line: "I'll keep you safe, kids. I promise. Nothing will hurt you, I swear to God."

Landis and four other crew members were later brought forward on manslaughter charges.

Wikipedia Commons

He went on to become the first-ever film director to be charged with a death on the set of a feature film, however, he refused to accept responsibility for the incident which has since been dubbed the 'Twilight Zone accident'.

Landis and four other defendants, including the helicopter pilot Dorsey Wingo, were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter after a trial that lasted nearly nine months.

The parents of Le and Chen sued and settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

And if things couldn't get even more harrowing, Morrow previously aired his eerie suspicion that he would be involved in a helicopter crash years before it happened.

During his time filming Dirty Mary Crazy Larry back in 1973 - nearly a decade before his death - he insisted on having a one million dollar life insurance policy before he would shoot any scenes involving the helicopter he was meant to ride in.

When asked about it, the father-of-two reportedly said: "I have always had a premonition I was going to die in a helicopter crash!"

Goosebumps.

Topics: TV and Film, Weird, Crime, Celebrity, True Crime

Rhiannon Ingle

Rhiannon Ingle is a Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from the University of Manchester in 2021 in English Literature. Alongside her studies, she was the Lifestyle Editor of The Mancunian, the largest student newspaper in the United Kingdom. Her favourite topics to write about include sex and relationships, bizarre lifestyle trends and all things travel.