Ok, het duurt te lang, even de vaart er in houden. Hier is een ooggetuigen verslag van een lid van de film crew.
The sequence required an Antonov to make an emergency landing on a Sierra Leone highway. (Shot at Robertson airstrip as the set). We had this Antonov piloted by Russians who between the four of them would polish off a bottle of [stuff] before breakfast. Not quite the required diet considering the complications of the shots for the day ahead, nevertheless, a stable and nourishing necessity for our aviators. The Art department coated the runway with dirt to look like a road and narrowed it too with grass on the sides. Then came the stunts - picture a typical road in Sierra Leone, scattered with "natives" (as the stupid Americans keep calling them), with their carts and animals etc. Next moment an Antonov swoops down and makes a landing, people flailing to get out of the way and scattering in all directions. Then came the problem - We had one shot where the plane has just touched down and charges down the road. We set up 5 cameras and the stunt department arranged their stunt guys to run and dive roll out the way. So I am walking around and checking out the placement of cameras etc. Just happen to notice that two of the cameras are placed opposite one another on the road (Already narrowed by grass don't forget) So I think to myself - "Why are we bottle necking the runway?" Anyway I am just a stupid GIRL in the armpit of testosterone that usually erupts along with these big stunt set-ups - so I shut my trap. My heart was in my throat and I knew something was gonna happen. The Antonov starts at the end of the runway and blasts forward at FULL throttle . Stunt men run and dive out the way, One guy runs across in front of the plane then changes his mind and runs back - The props just missing his head. I have a heart attack. Next the Antonov wipes out one of the cameras (One that was bottle necking the runway). Then the Antonov starts to slide sideways down the runway off into the grass, recovers then slides off again! I have my second heart attack. Then I close my eyes as I am swallowed up in a plume of dust. It's over! No one is hurt except for the camera - shredded into 500 little pieces. I go up to the black stunt guy a bit later and ask him if he knew how close he was to the props, he says "No I was running for my life" Then I ask him what his name is, He replies "Lucky" - No shitting me!
The outcome from the Pilots - Having had their [stuff] intravenously to recover from the shock, was that when they turned the Antonov around at the end of the runway big clumps of the set dressing grass got caught up in the front wheel causing it to lock. Hello! What do you make of that?
The moral of this story is - Always go full throttle when on the bottle and name your "FAST BORN" Lucky!"
The floor is open.
Cheers
Art