A small plane assigned to the crew of the movie starring Cruise crashed on the set in Colombia, killing two of three people aboard the plane.
- Sep 12, 2015
AceShowbiz - A small plane assigned to the crew of a Tom Cruise-starring drug war drama, "Mena", crashed on the set near Medellin, Colombia on Friday, September 11. Two people died in the accident, the country's civilian aviation authority has confirmed.
Two American pilots and a Colombian were aboard the plane. The Associated Press reports an American, Alan Purwin, and a Colombian, Carlos Berl, were killed in the incident, while a third person in the plane, American pilot Jimmy Lee Garland, was rushed to a hospital in Medellin.
According to the official, the twin-engine Aerostar ran into bad weather late Friday afternoon after taking off from the colonial town of Santa Fe de Antioquia.
Cruise and director Doug Liman were not on the plane. The actor reportedly had just wrapped a scene prior to the accident. Liman is said to be shaken up over the tragedy.
"Mena" is a movie about Barry Seal, a portly pilot who, in the 1980s, was a 300-pound gun runner, and drug trafficker who transported contraband for the CIA and the Medellin cartel. Production began on May 25 in Georgia, and Cruise arrived in Colombia to film the movie last month.
