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 two-seater Extra Flugzeugbau 300L that he used to train the cast of Top Gun: Maverick when it suddenly crashed around 2:30 pm on Sunday during the Las Cruces Air and Space Expo in Las Crosses International. Airport.
For the previous four minutes, Coleman had expertly executed loops, spins and Cuban maneuvers, frequently pulling up and soaring over the tracks with a stream of white smoke billowing behind him. reports the Las Cruces Bulletin.
Video taken by a bystander even shows Coleman flying up into the air and doing a few spins before the plane began to fall uncontrollably toward the ground.
He then disappeared behind a layer of desert brush some distance from where the spectators were standing.
Charles Thomas ‘Chuck’ Coleman was flying the same two-seater Extra Flugzeugbau 300L that he used to train the cast of Top Gun: Maverick at a New Mexico air show on Sunday when it crashed.
Video taken by a bystander even shows Coleman flying up into the air and doing a few spins before the plane began to fall uncontrollably toward the ground.
“It was a big cloud of dirt,” Terre Blevins, who took the video, told the Bulletin.
‘And then I looked at the security guard next to me. I say, “Did he crash?” and she ran away.’
An announcer in the video could then be heard telling viewers: “If you have social media, stay off it for now.”
“We have emergency equipment on the way,” the announcer was heard telling those attending the air show. “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 on the scene, spectators were ordered to calmly leave the airport.
Authorities finally announced Coleman’s death on Monday.
“We would like to express our deepest condolences to Chuck Coleman’s loved ones and fans,” 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 having trained one of the lead actors, Miles Teller. Coleman had to make more than 100 flights to prepare the actors for flight in the US Navy’s F-18 Hornets for the blockbuster.
Coleman website He said he was based in California and was an engineer, aerobatic and test pilot with more than 10,000 flight hours.
He performed at hundreds of air shows and took more than 3,000 trips in aerobatic airplanes, according to his website.
“He was one of the most skilled pilots there was,” said his friend Christopher Van Pelt. KFOX. “I think what this loss represents is really the loss of a mentor, the loss of a friend.”
Coleman and Van Pelt became friends in 2010 and clicked instantly. 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 spent together on the air,” he told KFOX. ‘I loved working with Chuck.
‘He was very skilled and also very talented. but you know, when you’re on a knife’s edge, this kind of thing can happen no matter how good you are.
Actor Miles Teller paid tribute to flight instructor after news of his death
Van Pelt called Coleman’s resume “on par with my body size,” and said the flight instructor “got to work on a lot of fascinating things.”
The friend recalled that Coleman liked being asked to join Top Gun: Maverick and work with people like Teller and others.
“That was something he really liked. “We just gave them, really, their first experience before they went off to film the movie,” he told KFOX.
Actor Miles Teller, who was one of the stars of 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 in X. “He was an aerospace engineer, a test and air show pilot, and our friend and ally.
‘Chuck was very calm 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,” Teller continued.
‘He left too soon, but his contributions will live on forever. Thanks for the memories, Chuck.
New Mexico State Police, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are now investigating the crash that led to his death.