Il volo della Fenice

The Phoenix's take-off was considered too dangerous to stage at the sandy filming location (its actual take-off was from a smoothed, compacted-earth runway), so legendary stunt pilot Paul Mantz was asked to do a "touch-and-go" landing in which he came in low, skimmed his landing gear along the ground, then throttled up to gain altitude, merely simulating a take-off. On the second take, as the landing gear made contact with the ground, the plane's aft boom fractured, causing the aircraft to nose into the ground and cartwheel, killing Mantz. As the second take had merely been a "protection shot," with the necessary footage captured during the first attempt, a vintage North American O-47A observation plane from an air museum was substituted for the remaining necessary close-ups.

The airflow over the wings would be so compromised by the wind shields and the men behind them that the plane would simply not fly. Indeed, the Phoenix stunt plane built for the film suffered severe aerodynamic drag from the dummies that were put on the wing to simulate the passengers. The dummies had to be replaced with thin plywood silhouettes erected parallel to the fuselage that did not obstruct the airflow.

Closing credits epilogue: IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED...

THAT PAUL MANTZ, A FINE MAN AND A BRILLIANT FLYER GAVE HIS LIFE IN THE MAKING OF THIS FILM...

Featured in Film Preview: Episodio #1.4 (1966)