How Did Jessi Combs, Star of ‘MythBusters’, Die?

Jessi Combs was a professional speed racer, and a beloved former cast member of Mythbusters, but she sadly passed away in a racing accident on Tuesday as she was trying to break a new record. Jessi Combs previously earned the titled of “fastest woman on four wheels” after hitting a speed of 398 miles per hour in her jet-powered North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger. Combs was attempting to break this record in the Alvord Desert in Oregon when the fatal accident occurred. According to The Blast, the jet-propelled vehicle she was in failed to properly stop. This resulted in the car speeding past the safe area and crashing.

Per NBC News, the Harney County Sheriff’s Office was called to the scene of the crash, which took place around 90 miles south of Burns, Oregon. Combs was the only individual in the jet car when it crashed, and as such was the sole fatality in the accident. Authorities are reportedly investigating the accident.

In addition to her professional racing career, Combs also appeared in a number of reality TV shows, including Mythbusters, Combs All Girls Garage, Xtreme 4×4, Overhaulin’, Truck U and Two Guys Garage.

After news of her tragic death was shared, Mythbusters star Adam Savage took to Twitter to memorialize Combs.

“I’m so so sad, Jessi Combs has been killed in a crash. She was a brilliant & too-notch builder, engineer, driver, fabricator, and science communicator, & strove everyday to encourage others by her prodigious example. She was also a colleague, and we are lesser for her absence,” Savage wrote, later adding, “My heart goes out to her family.”

“She is a legend. Fearless. Groundbreaking. She will live in our hearts and memories for the rest of our lives. She is Jessi Combs. Racing her way to the Heavens,” singer Jasmine Cain offered.

According to a description of the car Combs was driving when she crashed, it was an idea “to take a jet fighter, and turn it into the fastest racing machine in history. When all of this started, it really was nothing more than a few guys in a garage, scraping paint and shaping sheets of metal. Every step of putting the vehicle together has made the dream just a little more real. Now we move onto the ultimate goal of going supersonic.”