The producers of the ninth instalment of the Fast & Furious saga have been found guilty of violating safety protocols during the filming of the 2019 movie, Motor1 reports. An investigation launched after a stuntman was injured at the set revealed that the incident could be avoided.
During the filming of the balcony descent scene, Joe Watts, Vin Diesel’s stunt double, fell from a height of roughly 8 meters (26 feet) after his safety cord detached from the wall. He suffered cranium and brain damage and had to be hospitalized. The filming had been put on hold until the initial investigation was over.
It turned out that the safety measures at the filming set were inadequate. No one checked the safety cord between the takes and the soft mat that Watts was supposed to fall on had been moved, exposing hard concrete floor.
F9 was still a box office success, cashing in over $275 million.