Pilot Alan Purwin with Cruise posted on Instragram on August 24, 2015, in Amazonas, Colombia.
A plane crash during the shooting of Tom Cruise’s movie Mena killed two and seriously injured a third person on Friday night in Medellin, Colombia. American film pilot Alan David Purwin and Colombian Carlos Berl were killed. American pilot, Jimmy Lee Garland, was severely injured and hospitalized in Medellin. Local authorities believe that bad weather caused the twin-engine Aerostar to crash against the Alto de la Clarita mountain. A Universal spokesperson said in a statement;
“An aircraft carrying crew members crashed while returning to Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellin following production wrap on the film ‘Mena’ resulting in two fatalities. Further details are not available at this time. On behalf of the production, our hearts and prayers go out to the crew members and their families at this difficult time.”
Purwin was founder and president of L.A.-based Helinet Technologies, which provides aerial surveillance technology to law enforcement and government agencies. He had worked on films like Transformers, Pearl Harbor and Pirates of the Caribbean and was recently featured in Variety‘s video about aerial photography (below) Purwin spoke of his efforts to “de-risk” as much as possible when working in dangerous conditions.
The film, directed by Doug Liman, started shooting late last month in Colombia. Cruise plays Barry Seal, the American pilot who worked for Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar before he became a spy for the Drug Enforcement Agency. The film also stars Jesse Plemons, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright and Caleb Landry Jones.
Cruise with members of the Columbian Military Forces in Araracuara, Columbia
The crash
(via Variety)
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