Tonight:
5°c
Cameraman died in Batman crash
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent3 Nov 2008
A SPECIAL effects technician was killed filming a stunt for the latest Batman film as he leaned out of a moving vehicle which struck a tree, an inquest heard today.
Conway Wickliffe, 41, was operating a camera from the back seat when the Nissan 4x4 failed to negotiate a bend while driving alongside a stunt car at 20mph.
The father of two, originally from New Zealand, suffered severe injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene at the QinetiQ site at Longcross near Chertsey, Surrey, where stunt filming for Batman: The Dark Knight was taking place.
A jury at Woking coroner's court heard that a crew was filming a test run for a scene in which the Batmobile is blown up. Mr Wickliffe was facing backwards to capture the shot. But the car, being driven by another special effects technician, failed to make a 90 degree turn at the end of the run, and hit the tree.
Mr Wickliffe's death was the first of a number of disasters to hit Dark Knight.
Heath Ledger, 28, who played The Joker, died of an accidental drugs overdose in January.
The two-day inquest continues.
