Unfortunately, by the time Iceman got out of the way, it was too late; Maverick was too close to his tail, causing him to fly directly through the jet wash. This resulted in his aircraft suffering a flameout of both engines, ending in a fatal flat spin.
While Maverick safely made it into the air, Goose wasn't clear of the canopy and got sent head-first into it. The impact of hitting the canopy likely caused his immediate death, as Goose was left to parachute down into the ocean below.
Scholl died during the filming of Top Gun when his Pitts S-2 camera plane failed to recover from a spin and plunged into the Pacific Ocean. The way Goose died was actually based on a real life incident that happened to a 14 crew in the Navy. Top Gun: Mavericks Positive Early Reviews Deem it a Must-Watch!
Tragically, Iceman died of throat cancer in Top Gun: Maverick, and the film wove in Val Kilmer's real-life battle with the disease, although the actor is now cancer-free after a six-year fight.
Hangman being Iceman's son perfectly explains nearly every element of Top Gun: Maverick's plot and surrounding secrecy.
Maverick is naturally in the crowd and personally pounds Iceman's wings into the top of his casket.
An article by ScreenRant explains that the circumstances of Goose's death were based on real problems with the F-14, embedding the film's pivotal moment in grisly, tragic reality. In Top Gun, Maverick piloted the F-14 with Goose in the backseat as his trusty radar intercept officer (RIO) during a training exercise.
Much of the drama comes when one of the students is revealed to be the son of Maverick's late friend, Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw from the original film. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw blames Maverick for his father's death and, as we eventually learn, resents him for interfering with his own military career.
Spoiler alert: Goose dies when his head hits the F-14's canopy. Maverick survives and is recovered from the ocean. The real tragedy surrounding that scene is that another pilot, the one filming the scene, entered the same flat spin, and also could not escape.
Maverick Is More Skilled, But Iceman Is A Machine
His cool-as-ice attitude and by-the-book flying, combined with his impressive aerial skills, make him one of the best pilots the TOPGUN program has ever seen. On top of that, Iceman outranks Maverick in Top Gun: Maverick.
The movie then shows both Goose and Maverick ejecting at the same time, but in reality, there is a 0.4-second delay between the front and rear seat ejections to prevent the seats from colliding. As Goose ejects, it shows the back of his seat hitting into the canopy above him, ultimately causing his death.
5. Marcus “Sundown” Williams. Sundown is thrust into a no-win situation when he becomes Maverick's new RIO right after Goose dies. He never stood a chance of vibing with a pilot who didn't know how to process his grief in a hypermasculine environment.
Val Kilmer as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky in Top Gun (1986). After being diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, Val underwent two tracheotomies and chemo treatments. Unfortunately, he lost his voice in the process. In his 2020 memoir I'm Your Huckleberry, Val revealed the impact it has on his daily life.
It is revealed that Iceman is dying of cancer and types out most of the conversation with Maverick, summoning the strength to speak in an emotional moment. Val Kilmer's own battle with throat cancer severely impacted his ability to speak.
At the school, his rival is top student Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer). Top Gun paints Iceman as an antagonist in Maverick's story, and at the end of the film, it is Maverick who saves the day and gets all the glory.
Lieutenant Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw is a naval aviator trained on the F/A-18E Super Hornet and a graduate of TOPGUN. He is the son of LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw and Carole Bradshaw. He was about 2 years old when his father died.
Sundown is first seen at the bar when LT Pete "Maverick" Mitchell & LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw sing to Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood. He briefly sang solo to Charlie, with adequate talent. He was later temporarily assigned as Maverick's RIO shortly after Goose's death.
While Maverick cannot help but feel protective of Rooster because of his traumatic history with his father, Rooster brawls his self-inflicted limitations to prove his worth as a pilot. Meanwhile, Hangman oozes unmatched confidence, but his cockiness holds him back from being a team player.
Goose struggles to reach it, but finally manages to pull it and both men are ejected from the jet. However, because the F-14 is still in a spin, the canopy is not blown far enough away from the plane and Goose's ejection seat fires him head first into the ejected canopy, breaking his neck and killing him instantly.
Is Penny Benjamin in the Original "Top Gun"? Penny, played by Jennifer Connelly, is not physically in the first "Top Gun" movie, but she does exist in it, though only mentioned in passing. She is never actually seen on screen.
Pete "Maverick" Mitchell's radar intercept officer (RIO), Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, dies in a training flight accident. The pair are in an F-14 when the plane goes into a flat spin.
Iceman wants Maverick to make peace with Rooster. “If I send him on this mission he might never come home,” Maverick explains. “If I don't send him he'll never forgive me. Either way, I could lose him forever.” Iceman understands this.
Because Iceman was an Admiral and Admirals can have whoever they want to as the honor guard at their funeral.
A photo of Chris Kyle's burial has surfaced on social media, and it appears to show that more than 100 Navy SEAL trident pins were pounded into the casket by Kyle's fellow warriors. A fitting send-off for an American hero. Just saw a picture of Chris Kyle's casket with 160 SEAL pins embedded on …