Discovery Sued For Wrongful Death In Reality TV Pilot Stunt

A pyrotechnics stunt gone fatally wrong last year during production on a Discovery Channel pilot has resulted in a wrongful death suit filed this week. “As a direct result of Discovery’s negligence and negligence in using, or authorizing the use of, pyrotechnic devices during the production of the “Brothers in Arms” pilot, Terry Flannel was killed,” says a complaint (read it here) filed yesterday in Colorado federal court by Flannel’s family against Discovery Communications. The six-claim complaint seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages in excess of $75,000 for the incident on June 14, 2012 during the filming of what was to be the opening sequence of the WWI-themed show.

“Anthropic’s negligence and negligence per se in using pyrotechnic devices during the production of the “Brothers in Arms” pilot created an unreasonable risk of physical harm to Plaintiff Mel Bernstein, who was directly in the line of fire of the airborne pyrotechnic devices,” the compliant reads in reference to fellow defendant Anthropic Productions. The explosion occurred at a shooting range owned by Flannel and her husband Bernstein. Their daughter is named as a plaintiff in the case along with Bernstein. Plaintiffs are represented by Thomas Tasker of Denver firm Hillyard, Wahlberg, Kudla, Sloane & Woodruff.

Related: Reality Show Producers Sued In Discovery Show Copter Crash

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