Stuntman’s chilling last words before he died mid Top Gun scene

A pilot and stuntman who died while filming Top Gun shared heart-breaking final words over the radio before this death.

Arthur Everett Scholl - known as Art - passed away on 16 September 1985 when the Pitts S-2 camera plane he was flying failed to recover from a spin and plunged into the Pacific Ocean.

Scholl, from the US, had been filming for the Tom Cruise movie Top Gun at the time of his death, and the movie was ultimately released with a dedication to him that read: "This film is dedicated to the memory of Art Scholl."

In an interview with the Daily Mail back in 2015, Scholl’s widow, Judy, said that her late husband was a meticulous planner and took his job very seriously.

Paramount

She told the publication: “Art was a great pilot and a great showman," she told Daily Mail Online.

"But he was very calculating and prepared constantly. He was a triple type A personality.

“He had energy that wouldn't end and he was very fun to be with - but he was very focused.

“He took his work very seriously. He planned carefully - he wouldn't go out and break rules or anything. So, on Top Gun, I just don't know what happened.

“It was a massive shock to me. A lot of people in the industry and in aviation in general were surprised. He was relatively young to die.

“Fortunately he jammed a whole bunch of stuff into his life with air shows and competitions and movies and teaching but his death was a shock.”

Scholl had been flying over the Pacific Ocean filming backdrop scenes for the movie, when he failed to recover from an inverted flat spin.

As the plane plunged into the ocean, Scholl uttered his final words, using his radio to say: "I have a problem; I have a real problem."

Art Scholl Aviation

The plane landed in the water and neither it nor Scholl’s remains were ever recovered.

An exact cause for the crash has never been determined.

Commenting on the crash, Judy said: “Art didn't say what the problem was. This is the one thing I'm not happy about with him.

“So I don't know if he had a control failure, where maybe the camera jammed into the flight controls. Or whether he had an issue with the flight controls where he wasn't able to get the airplane out of the flat spin or whether he was disorientated. He didn't say.

“It's a puzzle. Most people think it was spacial disorientation but without the airplane we'll never know.”

Topics: TV and Film, Top Gun

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]