Lt. Wes Van Dorn, a 29-year-old United States Naval Academy graduate and the married father of two young sons, died when the helicopter he was piloting crashed off the coast of Virginia during a 2014 training exercise. Motivated by her grief, his wife Nicole sought an explanation for the cause of the disaster. Her efforts spurred an investigation that uncovered a long history of negligence and institutional failings around the 53E helicopter—the model Van Dorn was piloting when he was killed, and the deadliest aircraft in the US military.
Directed by Zachary Stauffer
Starring Zachary Stauffer
Genre(s) Documentary Film
The 2019 RiverRun International Film Festival announced the Awards with the top prizes going to Alice directed by Josephine Mackerras which won the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature, along with the Peter Brunette Award for Best Director for Mackerras. The film also snagged the Re Vision and Independent Feature Film Award. The Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature went to American Factory directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert.