Crashing during the opening helicopter sequence

I have not been able to play this game past the opening mission. After I drive the truck to meet the rebels, kill all the enemies, and get in the helicopter, the game crashes about 30 seconds after I'm in the entire. It's done this three times in a row now. Has anyone experienced the same issue? I literally cannot play the game, and since this is in the middle of the mission, I have to restart the game every time - it won't pick up where I left off.