Celebrity News September 12, 2015
Plane Crash Kills 2, Injures 1 on Tom Cruise Movie Set
People reports that a small plane used on the Colombian set of the Tom Cruise movie "Mena" crashed on Friday, killing two people and seriously injuring a third.
Authorities inspect the wreckage. [Credit: Raul Arboleda/Getty Images]
A statement from the production reads:
"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."
American pilot Alan David Purwin and Colombian pilot Carlos Berl died, while American Jimmy Lee Garland survived and is in a Medellin intensive care unit with "serious injuries." Purwin had shared multiple images from the set leading up to the crash.
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
The plane, a twin-engine Aerostar, is thought to have been downed by bad weather.
Purwin was remembered in a statement by his employer Helinet's CEO, Steve Gatena, as "a great man, a world-renowned aviator, and a brilliant entrepreneur... There are no words that can express our heartache for we have lost one of the world's greatest helicopter pilots and one of aviation's greatest leaders."
Tom has been shooting "Mena," the story of a pilot who worked for drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, since last month.
