Two National Geographic filmmakers die in helicopter crash in Australia

National Geographic confirmed that American cinematographer Mike deGruy and Australian television writer-producer Andrew Wight both died in a helicopter crash in eastern Australia. The two were working for National Geographic, which confirmed the news Sunday.

According to The Associated Press, police initially only said that a pilot and his American passenger died in a crash after takeoff at an airstrip near Nowra, a city north of Sydney. National Geographic and Avatar director James Cameron, who worked with both, later released a statement confirming their identities. The two specialized in deep-sea documentaries, prompting Cameron and the organization to say, “the deep-sea community lost two of its finest.”

Deadline reports that Wight was the writer and producer of the 3D drama, Sanctum, which was Australia’s most successful film of 2011. Cameron acted as executive producer on the film. He was also the general manager of Cameron Pace, Cameron’s first 3D production company based outside of the US. The two became friends, working on several of Cameron’s deep-sea documentaries, including Ghosts of the Abyss, Expedition Bismarck, Aliens of the Deep and Last Mysteries of the Titanic, according to IMDb.

DeGruy was a specialist in deep-sea photography and won Emmy and BAFTA awards for cinematography. He also acted as the director of deep-sea photography on Last Mysteries of the Titanic. He kept an active Twitter account, last writing on Jan. 30, “Been in Australia 2 weeks, one to go then off to PNG. Love this place- especially Sydney on Australia Day.”

In a statement, Cameron said that the two were “like family to me. They were my deep-sea brothers and both were true explorers who did extraordinary things and went places no human being has been,” according to the AP.