I watched her on several shows over the years, and she seemed to be a likable and authentic person, but attempting the unlimited land speed record is a death wish. The aerodynamics are relatively poorly understood, and at those speeds there isnt a completely suitable location on the planet. No vehicle can be designed to protect the occupant in event of a severe crash. A senseless death of a young woman with many years ahead of her. Very sad.

RIP

According to news reports, the problem occurred after her last run where she was unable to stop the vehicle for unknown reasons and it overran the end of the course.

I had not heard about her before this. Very sad, she had quite a full life.

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Now for the Motor Trend TV/Discovery Networks tribute. 10 minutes of content and 50 minutes of commercials.

Some new info I was not aware of - both in the article and the comments:

https://www.thedrive.com/news/29627/oregon-police-opens-investigation-into-jessi-combs-deadly-jet-car-crash

Sounds like chute failures (more than one), and went off the end of course. Fire fueled by jet fuel......Sad........

I don't consume a lot of TV media, so I did not know who she was...seems genuine and knew what she was doing, the risks involved.

Frankly, so what?

There are thousands of sailors, aviators, infantry at risk everyday around the globe. To them, as Jessi said to those that questioned her, I say thank you.

Sorry if this post clunks, but a charismatic, attractive woman in a jet car doesn't move me.

Again, sorry. RIP.

Couple of real idiots spouting off in comments...

Those 'things' on the back are NOT rockets, those are the drag parachutes.

Tcar is correct, there are 2 chutes just under the engine exhaust as seen here:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1567291524.jpg

One of my jobs was to pull the "remove before flight" safety pins from the chutes prior to making a run. These were the high speed drag devices prior to using the magnetic brakes at slower speeds.

I'm glad you broke the ice. This reminds me a bit of when Dale Earnhardt died. On the very same day we lost a number of servicemen in the Middle East. One news commentator challenged his viewers to name one...

Funny how we choose our "heroes".

It is always tragic to see a young, promising life needlessly lost. She did, however, make a lot of very selfish decisions that led up to this. Her family and loved ones will suffer for those selfish decisions. At least she didn't have any children.

I have to agree. She is a pretty blond tv personality that I had never really noticed until her death coverage blitz on the media of today. It is sad, but dozens of people die around the world everyday, skiing, biking, flying, or just walking down the street. Cops are shot and killed doing their jobs, and the military looses heroes regularly. She was a media personality because she had a pretty face, and was involved in cars, mostly something men watch on TV.
I do feel bad for her family and loved ones, and for a life cut short.

Video of the record attempt. Scary fast doesn't even start to cover it.
Note the video does not include footage of the crash.

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https://www.foxnews.com/auto/jessi-combs-fatal-land-speed-record-attempt-camera

Bold is mine. I really hope this is true. My fear was that a 400mph 'crash' would have lasted several seconds and travelled a massive distance, I was worried she'd survived the initial incident and knew what was happening as the accident progressed. I really hope I'm wrong at it was instant.

I had been following these guys for years... from Ed Shadle finding the engine, then the plane...

I was more upset when Ed died last year (cancer)... this was his baby, his project and he was THE driver. He went the fastest... in his 70's.

They brought Jessi in later....

https://www.landspeed.com/team/ed-shadle/

She was a talented lady...... a personality..... No more important than that..... she built a great car or truck....... she was definitely a car guy.....

I understand how we create heroes and quite similarly felt the same way years ago when a golfer's lear went down in Iowa.... I was having dinner with one of his fans who could not understand my lack of compasion. My feeling .... he was very privileged and why was his death anymore important..... today....... I have a bit more insight to that feeling.... it is as if someone you knew died..... not an identiless individual who might be more deserving of public sorrow for their undoubtedly heroic behavior.....

It was probably a needless risk to gain a record, that most of the public will probably not see through media/press, or even care about if they did..

And mechanical failure was involved..
(not the driver's fault)

But would someone say that about a male racer?

How do you know that????

What if she panicked, or passed out or ??? and never used the brakes????

That's fair.

It's still sad to see younger talent gone from the realm of automotive inspiration.
(Plus she was a serious hotty)
The whole thing is a net negative.

Lots and lots of folks that have accomplished great things and/or driven new frontiers have pushed the limits and explorered boundaries. Without that spirit, we (mankind) would not be where we are today. It’s part of some of our spirits, you can’t stop those folks from pushing the boundaries.

I suspect almost all of us have pushed some limits, some farther than others. Everyone has different risk tolerances. Just because someone has a high risk tolerance doesn’t mean that theirs is right and yours is wrong. The world needs risk takers. Fortunately, there aren’t many of them.