Plane Crash on Tom Cruise Film Set Leaves 2 Dead

A plane crash during the shoot of Tom Cruise’s movie “Mena” killed two and seriously injured a third person on Friday night in Medellin, Colombia, the Associated Press reports.
Cruise, a trained pilot, is said not to have been aboard the flight. The two people killed were identified as American film pilot Alan David Purwin and Colombian Carlos Berl. Another American pilot, Jimmy Lee Garind, has been severely injured and rushed to a hospital in Medellin.


 Purwin was founder and president of Los Angeles-based Helinet Technologies, which provides aerial surveillance technology to law enforcement and government agencies. He’s worked on such films as “Transformers,” “Pearl Harbor” and “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Purwin was recently featured in Variety‘s Artisans video series in a segment about aerial photography.
Local authorities believe that bad weather caused the twin-engine Aerostar to crash against the Alto de la Clarita mountain.

“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,” a Universal spokesperson said in a statement. “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.”

“Mena” was the first international production to tap the film incentives offered by Medellin, which offers cash rebates of up to 15%.