Two members of the crew working on Tom Cruise’s next movie were killed in a plane crash in the Colombian Andes on Friday. A third person was also seriously injured, according the Colombia’s civilian aviation authority.
An official told The Associated Press that Cruise was not on the plane.
The victims were Los Angeles pilot Alan Purwin and Colombian Carlos Berl. Jimmy Lee Garland of Georgia was rused to a hospital.
They were flying a twin-engine Piper Aerostar in bad weather and heading from a colonial town to the city of Medellin. They did not report an emergency to air traffic control.
Variety reports that Purwin founded Helinet Technologies, a company that provides aerial surveillance technology. He has also worked on several Hollywood blockbusters, including Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Purwin was a part of the crew on Mena, Cruise’s next film with director Doug Liman. It is a Universal production and the studio offered their condolences.
“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 studio spokesperson told Variety. “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.”
Cruise has not commented on the crash.
image of Tom Cruise courtesy of INFphoto.com