Police said Monday that the man who died when his small plane crashed during an air show in New Mexico was a skilled pilot who had done stunts at hundreds of air shows.
The two-seat Extra Flugzeugbau EA300 monoplane crashed around 2:30 p.m. Sunday during the Las Cruces Air and Space Expo at Las Cruces International Airport, killing Charles Thomas “Chuck” Coleman. Coleman was the only person on board.
Cops say Coleman was doing aerobatics when the plane went down about a quarter mile west of the airport. After the crash, the air show was called off.
His website said that Coleman was an engineer, an aerobatic pilot, and a test pilot with more than 10,000 hours of flight time. He lived in California.
His website says that he had performed at over 300 air shows and given more than 3,000 rides in acrobatic planes.
It also said Coleman taught players in the 2022 movie “Top Gun: Maverick” how to do aerobatics while flying. He did more than 100 flights with the actors to get them ready to fly in U.S. Navy F-18 Hornets.
Mayor Eric Enriquez of Las Cruces said in a statement Monday, “We would like to send our deepest condolences to Chuck Coleman’s family, friends, and fans.”
The crash is being looked into by the New Mexico State Police, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the National Transportation Safety Board.
During the first investigation, the airport was briefly closed, and only scheduled flights and emergency response flights were allowed.
