Man who died in plane crash during filming of Tom Cruise movie talked about danger of shooting films

Alan Purwin, one of the men who died in a plane crash on Friday while filming Tom Cruise pic “Mena” in Colombia, recently spoke to Variety about the dangers inherent to his line of work as a pilot.
In Variety‘s Artisans video series, Purwin addressed the risks of being a pilot for cameramen. He said that his team tries to take precautions in dangerous situations. “We try to de-risk as much as possible,” he said.
When asked what a good day on the job would entail, Purwin replied, “That everything is safe. That we walk away at the end of the day.”
He added, “Let’s face it: This is not something that is the safest thing to do. If you’re working in a helicopter, it’s like working in a race car every day. It’s just something that’s not normal.”
Purwin was founder and president of Los Angeles-based Helinet Technologies, which provides aerial surveillance technology to law enforcement and government agencies. He had worked on movies including “Transformers,” “Pearl Harbor” and “Pirates of the Caribbean.”