Cirque du SoleilCirque du Soleil is in mourning following the news that Sarah "Sassoon" Guyard, one of its gravity-defying aerialists, died Saturday following a 50-foot fall during a performance of Ka in Las Vegas.
Sadly, this isn't the first onstage death to befall a major entertainment production.
E! News takes a look back at five other notable tragedies involving a stunt gone wrong and their aftermath:
1. The Expendables 2: Stuntman Kun Liu was killed in October, 2011 when a planned explosion went awry during filming of a second-unit boating scene on the action-packed sequel's set outside Sofia, Bulgaria. Another stuntman also sustained injuries but survived. Liu's family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against producers Nu Image and Millennium Films.
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Extra Gabriela Cedillo was critically injured in 2011 after an accident on the Hammond, Indiana set of the third installment of Michael Bays 'robot trilogy. Cedillo was behind the wheel of a car during a stunt when a tow cable pulling her vehicle snapped and whipped around, striking her in the head. She ended up undergoing brain surgery, but the mishap left her with permanent brain damage. Her family later reached an $18 million settlement with Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks, which covered the cost of her medical bills as well as damages for the pain and suffering she endured.
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: During preproduction on the popular franchise's two-part finale in 2009, Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double, David Holmes, was rendered paralyzed after rehearsing a flying sequence in which he was suspended by a harness. When a planned blast went wrong, Holmes plummeted to the ground, sustaining injuries to his spinal cord. The former gymnast was conscious after the fall, but his worst fears were realized when he told fellow crewmembers he couldn't feel his legs.
4. WWE Pay-Per-View Special: Owen Hart, a 34-year-old pro wrestler known to wrestling fans as the Blue Blazer, fell more than 50 feet to the ring—and his death—during a pay-per-view special at Kansas City's Kemper Arena on May 23, 1999. Hart was supposed to be lowered gently by cable into the ring, but despite being strapped into a harness, the mechanism on the harness malfunctioned and disengaged. He was subsequently rushed to a nearby hospital where he died of internal injures. His family later amicably settled a wrongful death case with the WWE (then known as the WWF) out of court.
5. The Crow: Brandon Lee, son of late martial arts legend Bruce Lee, was killed in 1993 while filming his first starring role in the adaptation of the popular underground comic. Tragically, a prop gun that was supposed to shoot blanks had a real bullet lodged inside that struck Lee in the abdomen. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where, despite undergoing six hours of surgery, he later died at the age of 28. His death was ruled an accident and a stunt double was used to complete the film with CGI work done to make his face look like Lee. The Crow was released in 1994 and became a hit.