ABC News

A pilot was killed at an air show this weekend in Iowa after his Soviet Cold War era jet crashed into a nearby field.

Three jets in tight formation rumbled over the crowd at the Quad-City Air Show in Davenport, Iowa Saturday when one of the pilots appeared to lose control of his plane.

A home video captured the pilots going into a complicated maneuver, switching places mid-air and "passing within inches of each other" before a dive straight down.

"He went down into the ground and he burst into flames… I was instantly in tears because I knew more than likely he didn't survive," a witness told ABC news.

The pilot was identified as Glenn Smith, who The Associated Press reported was a retired technology entrepreneur from Dallas.

Assistant Davenport Police Chief Don Schaeffer told the AP that the pilot "never had an opportunity to come out of it."

The smoking wreckage of the Soviet L-39 jet was found in a nearby alfalfa field.

Officials said the investigation is ongoing.