Terrifying footage captured a flight instructors final moments as his aircraft 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 2:30pm on Sunday during the Las Cruces Air and Space Expo at Las Cruces International Airport.
For four minutes prior, Coleman had expertly executed loops, rolls and Cuban maneuvers – frequently pulling straight upward and soaring over the runways with a stream of white smoke billowing behind him, the Las Cruces Bulletin reports.
Video taken by a bystander even shows Coleman flying straight up into the air, and doing some barrel rolls before the plane started to uncontrollably tumble nose-down to the ground.
It then disappeared behind a layer of desert brush at a distance from where the spectators were standing.
‘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 she took off running.’
An announcer in the video could then be heard telling spectators, ‘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 those in attendance at the air show. ‘We have fire crews on the way.’
The rest of the show was abruptly canceled following the crash, and Blevins said that after first responders arrived on the scene, spectators were instructed to leave the airport calmly.
Officials finally announced Coleman’s death on Monday.
‘We would like to extend 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’s website said he was based out of California and was an engineer, aerobatic and test pilot with more than 10,000 hours of flight time.
He performed at hundreds of airshows and had provided more than 3,000 rides in aerobatic aircraft, according to his website.
‘He was one of the most skilled pilots out there,’ his friend, Christopher Van Pelt told KFOX. ‘think what this loss represents is, is really the loss of a mentor, the loss of a friend.’
Coleman and Van Pelt became friends in 2010 and instantly connected. They’ve spent plenty of time in the air together.
‘We spent a whole lot of time together. I can’t even count how many hours we spent in the air together,’ he told KFOX. ‘I absolutely loved working with Chuck.
‘He was very skilled and also very talented. but you know, when you’re riding on the razor’s edge, this sort of thing can happen no matter how good you are.’
Van Pelt said Coleman’s resume was the ‘height of the size of my body,’ saying the flight instructor ‘got to work on just a ton of fascinating things.’
The friend recalled Coleman getting a ‘kick out of’ being asked to join Top Gun: Maverick and work with the likes of Teller and others.
‘That was something that he really got a kick out of. Just giving 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 was featured on Coleman’s Instagram, also payed tribute to the flight instructor.
‘Chuck was our aerobatics flight instructor and instrumental in our preparation for Top Gun: Maverick,’ he wrote on X. ‘He was an aerospace engineer, air show 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,’ Teller continued.
‘Gone 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.