I’ve read the accounts, they have the NSB report online. I’m not sure what Landis could’ve really been convicted of, short of willful negligence (such as the hiring of the children). It’s not as if he deliberately intended to get Morrow and those poor children killed. It’s amazing the 6 people on the helicopter weren’t killed in the crash. Ultimately, the scene was ill-advised and probably should not have been attempted without professional stunt persons as stand-ins for the actors.
I’ve seen “Bears”, the one with Walter Matthau and Tatum O’Neil. I forgot Morrow was in it, it’s been over 20 or more years since I’ve seen it (and I’m not a sports person, so I don’t see many sports-related films).
He should have been charged with manslaughter. There were several others who were involved with the incident as well. I just can’t believe the indifferent attitudes of Landis and everyone else who had been involved. The footage of the accident is on YouTube. I watched it once and I could not stop sobbing. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen.
You’d think the guys in the helicopter would have been killed as well. They were 25 feet above Morrow and the kids. How the hell did they expect a 53 year old to carry those kids through choppy water? One was 6 and the other was 7 and children that age aren’t light.