Back at the shop, surrounded by twisted metal and damp neoprene, the duo delivered the news.
"The myth is simple," Adam said, his eyes gleaming behind his spectacles. "A scuba diver, minding his own business in a lake, gets scooped up by a low-flying firefighting plane and dumped directly onto a forest fire."
"Result?" Jamie noted. "If the car hits you, the 'vacuum' is the least of your problems. You're a pancake." Phase 2: The Forest Fire Drop Watch Mythbusters S03e02 Scuba Diver And Car Ca...
Jamie adjusted his beret. "It’s statistically improbable, physically grueling, and involves dropping things from great heights. Let's get to work." Phase 1: The Plunge
The sun was a relentless hammer over the California hills as Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage stood at the edge of a sheer cliff, looking down at a shimmering reservoir. Beside them sat a pristine 1990s sedan and a professional scuba rig. Back at the shop, surrounded by twisted metal
Next, they moved to the big guns: the aerial scoop. They needed to see if a firefighting "Super Scooper" plane could actually inhale a human being through its intake valves.
To test the "Car Cap" theory—the idea that a car hitting water could create a vacuum or a physical 'cap' that traps a diver—they built a rig. They submerged a crash test dummy, "Buster," in full scuba gear ten feet below the surface. "Dropping the car!" Adam shouted into his radio. "If the car hits you, the 'vacuum' is
They headed to a specialized testing facility. Adam stood by a high-powered water intake pipe, holding a mannequin. "Okay, if the plane travels at 100 knots, the suction at the intake is immense."