Scene 29
- "Danger Zone" quietly plays. It looks like the early morning, and the jets are starting to take off.
- Jester says that it is now hop 31, and graduation is in two weeks. The Top Gun trophy is still up for grabs.
- Soon, we're in the sky. Two F-14's are next to each other.
- Then we see them up close. One is Iceman. He looks to his left and glares. Then we see Maverick smiling back.
- The subtext is clear: it's on. For Maverick, it's about having fun. Iceman is way serious, and this isn't a joke for him.
- "Bogeys" are spotted, and both Maverick and Ice try to move in. Iceman cuts Maverick off, much to his (Maverick's) annoyance.
- Iceman can't get a good shot at the big bogey, and Maverick and Goose keep telling him to hurry up and shoot or get out so they can try.
- Finally, Iceman concedes and gets out of the way.
- Maverick and Goose, however, get caught in his jet wash.
- This is a serious, serious situation, and their plane enters a flat spin.
- Maverick can't control the plane, even though he tries. Soon, both of the plane's engines go out.
- Why does this happen? Here's a good article that explains how a jet engine on an F-14 works, and why it would go into a spin in this situation.
- The force of the spin makes it impossible for Maverick to pull the eject cord. He tells Goose to get it.
- Goose tries, and tries, seemingly unable to grasp the handles.
- Finally, he's able to grasp them. He pulls them.
- The spinning and jolting suddenly stops, and it gets very quiet. We see the cockpit lid come off, and then we see Maverick and Goose eject.
- Goose ejects right into the cockpit shell. This is not good.
- We see his body parachuting into the ocean. It looks like he's dead.
- Next thing we know, Maverick is screaming his name, pulling his body to the surface of the water.
- Maverick knows it and so do we: Goose is dead.
- A Coast Guard helicopter arrives and rescues the fellas.
- We get one last glimpse of Goose's body being pulled out of the water.
Scene 30
- We see the outside of an emergency hospital. Then we see a sink, set up for shaving.
- Enter Maverick, shaving in his underwear.
- Viper comes in, wearing his nice white dress uniform.
- Ostensibly, he's there to check on Maverick, but the things he says to Maverick smack more of a pep talk.
- Maverick says Goose was his responsibility, and Viper gives him a short lecture about how if you fly jets long enough, something like this happens.
- He talks about Vietnam, and tells Maverick he needs to let Goose go.
- Thanks for understanding Viper.