How ninjas saved the James Bond franchise from a fatal plane crash
It sounds so far-fetched that it would seamlessly fit into 007’s world of close calls, near-misses, and brushes with death, but a band of ninjas really did save the James Bond franchise from disaster.
In fact, were it not for a clan of martial artists strutting their stuff in public, cinema’s marquee spy series would have been irrevocably altered, with several of its most integral and important players narrowly averting a fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of everyone on board.
Ahead of production starting on the secret agent’s fifth outing, You Only Live Twice, the creative heavy hitters responsible for shaping the look, feel, and success of the saga across Dr No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, and Thunderball were dispatched to Japan on a location scouting mission.
Among them were producer and 007 figurehead Cubby Broccoli, Eon Productions co-founder Harry Saltzman, first-time Bond director and eventual The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker steward Lewis Gilbert, cinematographer Freddie Young, and production designer Ken Adam, the latter of whom had been involved since the beginning and played a huge role in establishing the franchise’s aesthetic.
The five were booked to fly home on BOAC Flight 911 from Tokyo to London via Hong Kong on March 5th, 1966. However, two hours before they were due to depart, the You Only Live Twice crew were extended a last-minute invitation to watch a live ninja demonstration, and they accepted the offer.
Little did they know that it saved their lives. 25 minutes after takeoff, the flight that Broccoli, Saltzman, Gilbert, Young, and Adam were supposed to be on disintegrated in midair due to severe turbulence and crashed into the woods close to a dormant volcano near Mount Fuji, killing all 113 passengers and 11 crew members onboard.
“The aircraft was flying as high as Mount Fuji, and I could see smoke at its tail,” an eyewitness told the BBC. “I heard a bang, and afterwards the tail and the main fuselage broke apart, and the aircraft began spinning down. Just before impact, the nose and the fuselage parted.”
If not for the ninja demonstration, Bond would have lost its two most powerful figures and main creative driving forces in Broccoli and Saltzman. Considering that 007 became a family business when the reins were handed down to his daughter Barbara and stepson Michael G Wilson, it’s an understatement to say that the franchise could have been sent down a completely different path, especially when the former was only five years old and the latter was was 24 and wouldn’t become a part of Bond until 1972.
Ninjas saving the day sounds like the plot of a Bond flick, but it’s a true story: one that ultimately safeguarded the future in the long run.
