Who was the original stunt pilot?

[Milo Minderbinder]

First of all, I can't believe there is a whole forum devoted to Magnum PI - how fun is that? I haven been watching a lot of old episodes (thanks to Netflix!) with my son and it has brought back a lot of great memories.

Here is the story about why I am asking about the pilot. When I was in high school (I can't remember exactly when, but it was probably the fall of 1980), I went to HI with my family and on the flight back to the main land, I was seated next to a guy who was telling me about a new show for TV that he was a part of and he thought it was going to be a big hit. This was before Magnum PI had aired and he showed me a bunch of snapshots of Tom Selleck and asked if I had ever seen him on TV. Naturally, I did not recognize Selleck because this was right before he got famous.

I do recall the guy had some pictures of a scene with an Asian character - I think it was the episode where Magnum knows that if the guy blinks or shuts his eyes, he is about to strike with a martial arts blow. In the episode, I think Magnum shoots him when he blinks.

Anyway, the guy on the plane also told me that he had been a pilot in Vietnam and was selected because he looked a bit like TC (this guy was black and had a similar build). So, this guy was kind of like a real life TC. When I looked on the Magunum Mania site, the information about the stunt pilots only showed a white guy, so I was wondering if anyone knew of another pilot who would have resembled TC.

Sorry for the long post, but I thought some other Magnum fans might enjoy the story.

[J.J. Walters]

Hello Milo, welcome to the site! Great story.

The pilot's name is Robert Sanders. He was the pilot who was involved in the chopper crash (Hughes 369D, N58243) that occurred during the filming of "Skin Deep" (Season One) that killed camera technician Robert Van Der Kar. I don't think he was involved with the show after the first season.

[Milo Minderbinder]

Oh, the name is Tod. MM is a character in a famous book. I'll update my sig a bit later.

That name, or "Bob" Sanders actually rings a bell. Wow, that's terrible about the crash. Judging from the date, it must have happened within a couple months after I met him. I recall that he was very excited about the show (why else would he have been showing all the stuff to a high school kid?), so it must have been a tragedy for him on a number of levels.

Also, I noticed the date of the accident happened about 3 weeks before the pilot episode was first shown. I wonder if there was any talk about the crash coinciding with the opening.

[Styles Bitchley]

Thanks for the great story.

Welcome aboard Tod.

[MACattack]

Great story. He actually met the REAL T.C.!

[PatBe]

taht tragic accident, with some others, lead Hollywood to make some "laws" to protect people, stuntmen and crew.
Th guy next your seat have been suspended for several weeks for his licence, after found guilty.
Anyway, Magnum P.I was asking a lot from pilots, and, if you look well at the overture, after season 3, you could see a chopper really near to a crash, as he can touch the ground with his left (???) patin.
Sometime, we meet history, and what is true is that you meet someone who didn't know that what he was enjoying to do and pleased to share, will make him a bad future.

When I was 3, I meet once a french Stuntman, Gil Delamarre (I don't have real memories from that, just pictures in mind, the car was red), and I have been going for a ride with him and my father, he was a real knowed and famous stuntman in french Movies.
3 weeks after, he killed himself on a small stunt, an ordinar one.
That's life The only good from is that, after these tragical accidents, people have tried to reduce risk, so , the cameraman's death on Magnum P.I have been "usefull" for the others.
Thanks for sharing it.

[Hueyman]

Hello, Carefully look at the intro scene from season 2, when the Hughes 500 D came near to the cameras in flight, we clearly can see Magnum which is sitting on the right seat and a black guy ( the pilot ) which is sitting on the left seat ( pilot seat on the Hughes helicopter series ). He has more or less the body of TC ( not very tall but muscled ) and pilot Ray Ban sunglasses. So, I think the guy he saw on the plane was him !

[Davidjbrady]

I loved reading this. My father used to work with Robert sanders in San Jose California as a diesel mechanic. I remember meeting Robert one day when I met my father for lunch. I was probably 12 years old. Nicest guy to meet vet funny and had a positive attitude.