A member of the California Air National Guard, Martin died in a crash during a military training flight.

[8] His final film appearance was in Backfire, co-starring Karen Allen and Keith Carradine, released in 1988 after Martin's death.

[10] During a 1987 training mission from March AFB, Martin's F-4 jet crashed in California's San Bernardino Mountains during a snowstorm, killing him and his weapons systems officer, Captain Ramon Ortiz.

The plane's wreckage was found on the east side of Wood Canyon in Riverside County.

[13] As per reports from Air National Guard and the Air Force, Martin may have experienced vertigo in a snowstorm and did not hear the command from the Ontario Airport controller to change directions to avoid the mountain peak.

[17] He married the Olympic gold medalist ice skater Dorothy Hamill in 1982,[18] and they divorced in 1984.