Jimmy Lee Garland is lone survivor from 2015 plane crash during filming of Tom Cruise’s American Made film
The only survivor of a 2015 plane crash on set of Tom Cruise’s recently released American Made film has filed a counter-suit against a family that blames him for the wrongful death of one of the pilots.
Jimmy Lee Garland suffered serious injuries and was left paralyzed in the September 11, 2015 crash that claimed the lives of veteran Hollywood pilot Alan Purwin and Venezuelan Carlos Berl in Colombia where they were filming Cruise’s movie.
The twin-engine Piper Smith Aerostar 600 went down in foggy conditions in the Andes near Medellin, Colombia. They were not doing stunt work in the small plane when the crash occurred.
Garland shattered his T-12 vertebrate which made him a paraplegic as a result of the accident. He also suffered major trauma to his face, a concussion, damage to his left eye socket, a broken jawbone, two lost teeth, shattered cheekbones, broken ribs, broken ankles and a punctured lung.
In June, he was named in a lawsuit filed by Berl’s brother and his surviving children for negligence and Berl’s wrongful death.
They sued ‘for funeral and burial expense, pain and suffering and other damages,’ as well as ‘wrongful death and/or survival damages,’ according to the original complaint.
Tragic end: Alan Purwin, 51, (R) and Carlos Berl, 58 (L) were killed in the 2015 plane crash during filming of American Made in Colombia
Garland suffered serious injuries and was left paralyzed in the crash (scene above) that claimed the lives of the two other pilots. He has now filed a counter-suit against Berl’s family who blames him for the wrongful death of the pilot
They claimed in the lawsuit that Garland allowed ‘a rushed and unbriefed instructional and familiarization flight to Carlos Berl in the subject aircraft over the rugged terrain of the Andres Mountains.’
The family also claimed that Garland was piloting the plane while instructing Berl in terrain that was ‘unsuitable for such an instructional flight, especially one conducted in a rushed and unscheduled manner in an aircraft with limited flight equipment and weather instrumentation.’
In terms of negligence, the Berl family argued in the suit that Garland ‘unlawfully and carelessly supervised, prepared, instructed, operated, entrusted, piloted, flew, controlled and directed’ the aircraft that crashed in the mountains and killed Berl.
Berl’s family wanted a trial by jury to determine if Garland is responsible for Berl’s death.
Garland and his wife, Brenda Garland, filed a counter-lawsuit in August against the family of Berl for the injuries he sustained in the deadly crash, The Tribune Ledger reported.
Garland, a former pilot, manager of the Cherokee County Airport and owner of S&S Aviation, had previously described Berl and Purwin as ‘friends.’
Purwin’s widow is suing the film’s production companies over the crash. The pilot is pictured above with Tom Cruise (right)
In their counter-suit, the couple seeks to ‘recover damages for injuries sustained by’ Jimmy Garland in the crash ‘as a direct and proximate result of the tortious conduct of …Carlos Berl.’
Garland and his wife claim Berl was piloting the aircraft and that Garland was a passenger.
They are seeking damages for one count of negligence for causing Garland’s paralysis and one count of loss of consortium for the care Brenda Garland provides for her husband, the newspaper reported.
Court documents show that a 60-day stipulation was filed September 18 where both the Garlands and the Berl family have agreed to extend the time for the Berl family to respond to the Garland’s answer to their complaint and counter-claims.
A response should be submitted by December 22.
Back in September, Cruise and director Doug Liman were being partially blamed for the plane crash by the estates of the victims.
Berl and Purwin’s estates claimed that Liman and Cruise’s ‘high risk, action packed’ film, along with ‘the demands of filming in Colombia, together with Cruise’s and Liman’s enthusiasm for multiple takes of lavish flying sequences, added hours to every filming day and added days to the schedule.’
According to court documents, obtained by The Blast, Purwin complained to an executive producer just weeks before the 2015 crash, writing that this is ‘the most dangerous project I’ve ever encountered’.
He added that there was one instance that required tremendous skill to ensure ‘TC (Tom Cruise) Caesar and I wouldn’t be coming home in a box.’
Of the accident, Garland previously told the Ledger news that the plane they were flying in hit so hard, his organs were pushed up in his body cavity causing doctors to re-position them and correct his diaphragm.
Garland underwent months of rehabilitation before returning home in January 2016.
‘I don’t remember anything at all from that night. I actually don’t remember that entire day or even getting up that morning,’ Garland previously told the Tribune.
‘The next thing that I recall was that I was in Grady Hospital in Atlanta. They were working to get me off of the respirator and that’s actually the first thing I remember.’
He added, ‘I had the hand of God around me that night. Just to look at how much damage there was, I am amazed that I am alive.’