James Bond film makers sued for $4.8 million

The accident occurred on the set of Spectre, which stars Daniel Craig. Photo / Supplied

An assistant director on the James Bond films who was left with career-ending injuries after he was crushed on the set of Spectre is suing for £2.5 million in damages.

Terry Madden was filming in Austria when a camera truck veered off the road and crashed into him, pinning him by the legs.

He suffered multiple fractures, tissue damage and nerve damage in the February, 2015 accident and has had a succession of reconstructive operations including a skin graft.

The insurers for Eon Productions, makers of the Bond films, admitted liability. But Madden is yet to receive damages and this week served proceedings in the High Court. He is claiming £2.5 million ($4.8m) in damages, including future loss of earnings and medical costs.

Madden, 66, had worked on scores of films including the original Star Wars, The X-Men and Jason Bourne franchises, and numerous Bond films.

He said: "I felt privileged and proud to work and be part of an active, exciting, but hard-working industry, at times sacrificing family life.

"Then to have a career — a career you worked hard over many year to build up — taken away within a few seconds in this horrendous accident has been soul-destroying.

"It has limited my mobility greatly and I am unable to do things I once took for granted."

Madden had worked as an assistant director on every Bond film since For Your Eyes Only in 1981.

The Spectre accident occurred when the second unit was filming action sequences of an aeroplane flying through a valley in the Alps. A remotely-operated camera rig was mounted on to a Range Rover which skidded out of control and hit Madden.

His lawyer, Julian Chamberlayne, said: "Although we secured an admission of liability at an early stage, it has now become necessary to issue High Court proceedings to ensure that the insurers fully compensate Terry for his injuries, which have ultimately ended his successful and celebrated career."