Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.
Please see the reasons for this title in the "Behind the scenes" section below, and/or the relevant discussion on the talk page.
A German pilot was one of two Luftwaffe airmen who chased down Indiana Jones and his father following their escape from the D-138.
Biography[]
Piloting a Pilatus P-2 aircraft in 1938, a Nazi aviator and his wingman approached the D-138 zeppelin that had turned back towards Berlin, they spotted a fleeing German biplane. Giving chase, they opened fire on the slower biplane. Eventually the biplane was forced down and crashed into a farm building.[1]
As the two American fugitives Indiana Jones and his father stole a car from a nearby elder, the pilot gave chase, strafing the ground behind the car in a dive attack. Following the automobile around a bend in the road, the pilot was forced into a tunnel. With its wings snapping off at the tunnel entrance, the plane's fuselage zoomed down the passage. The Americans pulled over to let the flaming plane pass by and the pilot looked at his situation with uncertainty. As the plane exited the tunnel, it exploded, killing the aviator. Jones and his father managed to pass through the burning wreckage without mishap.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The German pilot was portrayed by an uncredited performer in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in an nonspeaking role.[1]
For the scene in which the German pilot crashes his plane through the tunnel and dies, as well as the entire 10-minute long plane chase sequence, a combination of live-action plate work and blue-screen photography was utilized by Industrial Light & Magic, in addition to the use of models, pyro and stop-motion.[2]
In the comic book adaptation by Marvel Comics, the German pilot's scene is drastically shortened. Upon trying to follow the Joneses through the tunnel, the plane doesn't survive having its wing snapped off and the entire aircraft explodes the moment it collides with the tunnel's entrance, killing the pilot seconds earlier than in the film.[3]
In LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, the pilot enters into the tunnel with the Joneses not by choice but because he breaks the controls of his airplane. It's possible that the pilot survived in the game as when the plane explodes, he doesn't disassemble as LEGO minigures do when they die and simply falls intact offscreen.[4] In the sequel, however, neither of the two German pilots appear as the Joneses use the D-138 to travel directly to the Republic of Hatay.[5]
Appearances[]
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade comic
- LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Non-canonical appearance)