Ian Fleming initially wanted Alfred Hitchcock to direct the first James Bond movie. It didn't materialise. Cary Grant was also approached to play the character but it didn't work out as he committed to do only one movie.
The helicopter scene in "From Russia with Love" (1963) was Terrence Young's idea and is a homage to the scene in Hitchcock's "North by Northwest" (1959).
During the filming of this scene, a camera operator's leg was hit by the blades of the helicopter that came in too low and he had to have his foot amputated. Sean Connery too came close to death when an inexperienced pilot flew a little too close, endangering his life.
(Sources:
1. "Revealed: The secret telegram that shows Ian Fleming wanted Alfred Hitchcock to direct the first Bond film", Graham Smith, Daily Mail, 2012.
2. "How Cary Grant nearly made Global James Bond Day an American affair", Amanda Holpuch, The Guardian, 2012.
3. "REVISITED: the ‘banned’ FRWL commentary", The Spy Command, 2014.
4. "Production Notes - From Russia With Love", MI6)