My helicopter went into freefall inside an active volcano

"The 1993 erotic thriller Sliver should have ended differently: Zeke, played by William Baldwin, was scripted to fly a helicopter towards an active volcano, after Sharon Stone's character, Carly, reveals she's the killer. The pilot, Craig Hosking, had been tasked with flying low over Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, accompanied by the director of photography, Mike Benson, and his assistant Christopher Duddy, to film the bubbling lava and white plumes of smoke escaping from the Puu Oo vent."

"It was a clear day on the Big Island when Duddy watched a corkscrew trail form in the smoke behind the helicopter, and he remembers thinking: I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this. It was November 1992, and a big storm was due to hit the area, so they were shooting as much footage as they could along the coast, capturing the rainforest and brilliant blue ocean shimmering against the black lava of the volcano, before the weather disrupted production."

"But as they dipped over Puu Oo for a second time, the helicopter's engine failed. Their visibility faded as thick smoke engulfed them. Duddy jolted his eyes away from the camera monitors towards the open doors and saw that they were heading straight for a cliff. There was a loud crash as the rotor sheared off on impact and the helicopter went into freefall. We started looking around and realised we were inside the volcano, about 50 yards away from the lava pool"

"They were lucky to land upright, on the helicopter's skids, on a ledge. Hosking's eye had a gash and blood was pouring down his face, but they were all alive. We didn't even realise where we were when we jumped out. Then we started looking around and realised we were inside the volcano, about 50 yards away from the lava pool. Immediately, they began to choke on the fumes. Duddy's eyes burned from the sulphur, which smelled of rotting eggs, and they all coughed uncontrollably."

Zeke was scripted to fly a helicopter toward an active volcano in Sliver. Pilot Craig Hosking and crew flew low over Kilauea's Puu Oo vent to film bubbling lava and plumes. In November, with a storm approaching, they captured coastal footage. On a second dip over Puu Oo the helicopter's engine failed, thick smoke reduced visibility, and the rotor sheared off on impact. The aircraft landed upright on skids on a ledge about fifty yards from the lava pool. Hosking had a gash and bled, and the crew choked on sulphur fumes that burned their eyes and caused uncontrollable coughing.

Read at www.theguardian.com