Film-maker Michael Findlay was killed in a helicopter accident on the
roof of the (then) Pan Am Building in New York city. On his way to John
F Kennedy airport to connect with a Paris-bound flight, Findlay was
planning to demonstrate his new 3-D camera to potential backers in
France. Findlay and three other passengers were about to board the
helicopter when its landing support collapsed. The helicopter fell onto
one side and its spinning rotor blades decapitated Findlay and killed
three other passengers. A woman on the street below was also killed
when she was hit by a detached rotor blade from the helicopter.
For the film Funk (1976) he invented a new portable 3-D camera. When he was
killed in the helicopter accident he was on his way to Paris to meet
potential financial backers of the camera, and was holding a test model
of his invention.