Despite being a potentially major moment in the series,
The Walking Dead executive producer and director
Greg Nicotero admits he almost forgot to include the moment where Rick looked to the sky and saw the helicopter flying overhead. As it turns out, the team never actually had a helicopter on set, which is unusual for a show which tends to keep its effects practical.
“I’ll tell you something funny about the helicopter," Nicotero said to
Fandom. "Because the helicopter is added in post, we don’t shoot a real helicopter. I completely forget about the helicopter because when we’re filming we never deal with the helicopter. And then in the script it’s like: ‘And then a helicopter flies by’. I’m like: ‘Who’s in the helicopter?’. So, I’ll be really honest. I haven’t put any thought into the helicopter scenario."