 The airplane crash site was recreated in a field in Northern  California and was exactly modeled on a crash that occurred outside  Sioux City in Iowa in 1989. The "accident" was reported by several  flights flying over the scene. The field was first planted with 85  acres of corn which was then bulldozed to recreate the gouge that a  crashing plane would have made. The adjoining cotton field was also  purchased to make the crash appear bigger. 140 extras were employed  for the scene along with 40 members of the Kern County and  Bakersfield Fire Department. One of the towns main roads was closed  for a week, and the local electricity company was persuaded to knock  down several pylons and snarl up half a mile of electric cable to  create a scene of almost total devastation. The crash site took a  total of 10 days to prepare, and included throwing 600 suitcases and  their contents (all items purchased from local thrift stores)  liberally around the site. In total, the recreation cost $2 million.