(MY040) Andy Lau was ordered to pay 6.69 million Taiwan dollars

TAIPEI (AFP) – Hong Kong star Andy Lau lost an appeal against a Taiwanese airline and was ordered to pay 6.69 million Taiwan dollars (201,000 US) for damaging its helicopter during a film stunt, according to a court.

Taiwan's High Court upheld an earlier ruling against the actor and singer and increased the amount of compensation from 5.1 million Taiwan dollars as it used a different method to calculate the chopper's value, a court spokesman said.

Lau was found liable for brushing against the pitch stick of the chopper, loaned by Daily Air, before jumping out during the shooting of action flick "The Island of Greed" in Taiwan in 1997, the court said.

The move unsteadied the aircraft, which was in the air at the time, causing its rotor blade to hit lighting equipment.

Daily Air filed the suit in 1998 but a Taipei district court only handed down the verdict last year. The court said the case had dragged on because the defendants were in Hong Kong.