Filmmakers verongelukt bij helikoptercrash

Documentairemakers Andrew Wight (52) en Mike DeGry (60) zijn gisteren bij een helikopterongeluk in Australië om het leven gekomen. Het tweetal was recentelijk, samen met James Cameron, bezig met een documentaire over Papoea-Nieuw-Guinea.

Wight (52) was piloot van de helikopter die ten zuiden van Sydney is neergestort. Hij werkte jarenlang samen met James Cameron aan documentaires zoals Ghosts of the Abyss, Aliens of the Deep, Expedition: Bismarck, Last Mysteries of Titanic en meer recentelijk Sanctum 3D. DeGry maakte al meer dan 30 jaar documentaires over de oceanen. Hiermee won hij diverse BAFTA en Grammy Awards.

In de Hollywood Reporter gaf de verslagen regisseur het volgende statement: “Mike and Andrew 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. They died doing exactly what they loved most, heading out to sea on a new and personally challenging expedition, having fun in the way they defined it for themselves, which was hardship and toil to achieve something never done before. They were passionate storytellers who lived by the explorer’s code of humor, empathy, optimism, and courage. Their deaths are a tremendous loss for the world of underwater exploration, conservation, and filmmaking.”