Landis Tells of Shock Over Deaths; Prosecutor Accuses Him of Acting

Director John Landis testified in a quavering voice Thursday that he fell into a state of near-shock and muttered “Oh, my God!” as he watched the helicopter crash that killed actor Vic Morrow and two children during filming of “Twilight Zone: The Movie.”

Landis, 36, on trial with four film-making associates for involuntary manslaughter in the three deaths, testified in a trembling voice: “I was watching Vic and the children. I watched them struggling in the river. I saw Vic fall . . . then the helicopter crashed in front of me.

“It just startled me. I said, ‘Oh, my God! Where’s Vic and Renee (Chen, one of the two child actors)?’ ”

Landis, during questioning by his lawyer for the second day, said he ran to the fallen aircraft, which had been crippled by powerful special-effects explosions during the filming of a spectacular night-time Vietnam War scene. Also killed in the July 23, 1982, crash with Morrow, 53, and Renee, 6, was Myca Dinh Lee, 7.

As she started her cross-examination, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino, sarcastically questioning Landis’ sincerity, offered him a tissue as if to suggest that he was shedding crocodile tears.

The prosecutor then queried him about his acting abilities and his knowledge of how actors learn to cry and show emotion for effect.

“I frankly wish I had an Oscar to give him for his performance,” she told reporters outside court.

On trial with Landis are associate producer George Folsey Jr., unit manager Dan Allingham, helicopter pilot Dorcey Wingo and special-effects coordinator Paul Stewart.

Landis, the first defense witness in the nearly six-month trial, continued disputing prosecution witnesses who said he was warned that the helicopter scene as planned was unsafe.

“John, before the (fatal) shot, did anyone tell you that he or she thought that scene as planned was unsafe?” asked Landis’ lawyer, James Neal, a former Watergate special prosecutor.

“No,” Landis replied.

“Did you think the scene was safe?”

“Yes,” Landis said.

Landis disputed testimony from other prosecution witnesses by saying that he did not recall ordering Wingo to “lower, lower” the aircraft just before the crash. “I don’t recall saying it,” he said. “I don’t know if I said it, but I have no recollection.”

Landis also contradicted a prosecution witness by saying that he never told a crew member to “shut up” when she suggested the upcoming scene might be unsafe.

“Absolutely not,” Landis said.

Landis said the fatal scene, in which Morrow’s character saves the two children from a U.S. helicopter attack, called for three special-effects explosions to go off at first. Then, when the aircraft and the actors were a safe distance away, the final two explosions would be set off, Landis said.

Special-effects man James Camomile, who has been granted immunity from prosecution, testified previously that he set off the last two explosions prematurely, before the helicopter was a safe distance away.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers agree that those were the explosions that crippled the helicopter, but the prosecution argued that Landis was responsible for the crash as the ultimate authority on the movie set.

Landis testified that he was not aware that a mortar had been placed beneath a replica of a Vietnamese hut.

D’Agostino contends that that mortar was the one that sent debris hurling into the air, crippling the helicopter’s rotor mechanism, and that Landis had ordered it placed under the hut.

The director testified that after an explosion-filled scene three hours before the crash, Allingham complained that the occupants of the helicopter had “felt the heat (of the explosions) . . . and that Dorcey was upset. I said, ‘OK, let’s fix it.’ ”

A short time later, Landis said he “made a joke” by telling Wingo “the last shot was nothing. You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

On Wednesday, Landis testified that he knowingly broke the law by illegally hiring the two children.

D’Agostino maintains that Landis decided to illegally hire the children because he knew state authorities would not grant the youngsters work permits because they would deem the conditions on the set too dangerous.