Two Pilots Were Fatally Injured During Filming Of 'American Made'

Actor Tom Cruise is being accused of negligence in connection with the filming of the movie "American Made" because of an accident that fatally injured two pilots and left a third with no feeling in the lower half of his body.

The three pilots were aboard an Aerostar 600 that impacted terrain in a mountainous region of Colombia where the filming was taking place in September, 2015. MSN relays a report through People Magazine from The Blast citing court documents that say Cruise and director Doug Liman wanted to make a “high-risk, action-packed motion picture” which contributed to the circumstances leading to the accident. “The demands of filming in Colombia, together with Cruise’s and director Doug Liman’s enthusiasm for multiple takes of lavish flying sequences, added hours to every filming day and added days to the schedule,” the court documents state.

The estates of pilots Alan Purwin and Carlos Berl are suing the producers of the film, alleging that they producers ignored safety procedures prior to the flight as a money-saving measure. “Lapses in planning, coordinating, scheduling, and flight safety that were the Defendants’ responsibility resulted in an unqualified and unprepared pilot being pressed into service for a dangerous flight in a vintage aircraft across an unfamiliar mountain pass in bad weather,” the filing says.

Cruise and Liman are not named as defendants in the suit, but the estates say they were "negligent" for allowing the flight to take place under the circumstances.

The lawsuit goes on to claim that one of the executive producers formally complained about Cruise and Liman to the insurance company.

The families say that Cruise could have piloted the plane himself, as he is an experience pilot qualified to fly the Aerostar and familiar with the flight plan for the day.

Berl's family has also filed suit against pilot Jimmy Lee Garland, who survived the accident but suffered injuries leaving him with no feeling from the waist down.

(Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: Original Story