Terrifying Top Gun moment: Maverick flight instructor Charles Coleman’s plane crashes into the ground

Terrifying footage captured a flight instructor’s final moments as his plane plummeted to the ground at an air show in New Mexico on Sunday.

Charles Thomas ‘Chuck’ Coleman was flying the same Extra Flugzeugbau 300L two-seater he used to train the cast of Top Gun: Maverick when it suddenly went down around 2:30 p.m. Sunday during the Las Cruces Air and Space Show in Las Cruces International. airport

For four minutes earlier, Coleman had expertly executed loops, rolls and Cuban maneuvers, often pulling up and hovering over the tracks with a stream of white smoke billowing behind him, the Las Cruces Bulletin reports.

The video taken by a bystander even shows Coleman flying up into the air and doing some barrel rolls before the plane began to nose down to the ground out of control.

It then disappeared behind a layer of desert litter some distance from the onlookers.

Charles Thomas ‘Chuck’ Coleman was flying the same Extra Flugzeugbau 300L two-seater he used to train the cast of Top Gun: Maverick at an air show in New Mexico on Sunday when it crashed.

The video taken by a bystander even shows Coleman flying up in the air and doing a few spins before the plane began to nose down to the ground out of control.

“It was this big puff of dirt,” Terre Blevins, who took the video, told the Bulletin.

“And then I looked at the security guard next to me. I’m like, ‘Did he crash?'” and he ran out.

An announcer in the video was then heard telling viewers: “If you have social media, please stay off of it for now.”

“We have emergency crews on the way,” the announcer could be heard telling air show attendees. “We have fire crews on the way.”

The rest of the show was abruptly canceled after the crash, and Blevins said that after first responders arrived at the scene, spectators were instructed to calmly leave the airport.

Officials finally announced Coleman’s death Monday.

“We would like to express our deepest condolences to the loved ones and fans of Chuck Coleman,” Las Cruces Mayor Eric Enriquez said in a statement at the time.

Coleman (center) was the aerobatic flight instructor in the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick, even after training one of the lead actors, Miles Teller. Coleman had to fly more than 100 flights to prepare the actors to fly US Navy F-18 Hornets for the blockbuster.

Coleman’s website said he was based out of California and was an engineer, acrobat and test pilot with more than 10,000 hours of flight time.

He performed in hundreds of air shows and had provided more than 3,000 rides in aerobatic planes, according to his website.

“He was one of the most skilled pilots out there,” his friend Christopher Van Pelt told KFOX. “You think what this loss represents is actually the loss of a mentor, the loss of a friend.”

Coleman and Van Pelt became friends in 2010 and instantly connected. They have spent a lot of time together in the air.

‘We spent a lot of time together. I can’t even count how many hours we’ve spent on the air together,” he told KFOX. “I’ve loved working with Chuck.

“He was very skilled and also very talented. but you know, when you’re on a razor’s edge, these kinds of things can happen no matter how good you are.

Actor Miles Teller paid tribute to the flight instructor following news of his death

Van Pelt said Coleman’s resume was “the height of my body size,” and said the flight instructor “started working on a bunch of fascinating stuff.”

The friend recalled that Coleman was asked to join Top Gun: Maverick and work with the likes of Teller and others.

“That was something that really got a kick out of it. Just giving them, really, their first experience before they left to shoot the movie,” he told KFOX.

Actor Miles Teller, who co-starred in Top Gun: Maverick and appeared on Coleman’s Instagram, also paid tribute to the flight instructor.

“Chuck was our aerobatic flight instructor and was instrumental in our preparation for Top Gun: Maverick,” he wrote to X. “He was an aerospace engineer, air show pilot and test pilot and our friend and ally.

“Chuck had a very easy-going way about him, and we always felt comfortable with his expertise at our disposal.

“He was kind, humble and curious about others and the world we live in,” continued Teller.

‘He is gone too soon, but his contributions will live on forever. Thanks for the memories, Chuck.

The New Mexico State Police, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are now investigating the crash that led to his death.