LOS ANGELES -- A criminal indictment against John Landis in the deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children on the 'Twilight Zone' movie set has forced the director to withdraw from the new film 'Dick Tracy.'
Landis' attorney said Friday his client had informed Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures he will not direct 'Dick Tracy' in order to prepare his defense.
'Because of the distraction of dealing with criminal charges, one cannot give the kinds of assurances that are important for continuity in making the film,' attorney Joel Behr said. 'We notified the studios the moment we were aware of criminal charges.'
It was disclosed that Dorcey Wingo, the pilot of the helicopter that crashed on the movie set, killing Morrow and the two child actors, was the fifth member of the film's production crew secretly indicted Wednesday by the county grand jury in the accident.
One of Wingo's attorneys, Eugene Trope, confirmed his client had been criminally charged.
Besides Wingo and Landis, the film's associate producer, George Folsey Jr., unit production manager Dan Allingham and special-effects coordinator Paul Stewart were also named in the sealed indictments issued by the grand jury.
In a separate action, Wingo, 35, lost his license Friday under a Federal Aviation Administration ruling that charged him with being 'careless or reckless in the manner in which he operated a helicopter' during the filming.
He has 20 days to appeal to the National Transportation Safety Board and request a hearing.
Specific charges brought against the five production crew members will not be known until the indictment is unsealed June 24 -- the same day 'Twilight Zone' will be released nationwide. But attorneys for three of the defendants said they think their clients will face charges of involuntary manslaughter.
Morrow, 53, Myca Dinh Le, 7, and Renee Chen, 6, died last July 23 when a helicopter carrying a camera crew crashed on them as they dashed across a simulated Vietnam village on location near rural Saugus.
