Darwin Awards 1995-1 |
The Arizona Highway Patrol were mystified when they came upon a
pile of smoldering wreckage embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a
curve. The metal debris resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it turned out to be the
vaporized remains of an automobile. The make of the vehicle was unidentifiable at the
scene.
The folks in the lab finally figured out what it was, and pieced together the events
that led up to its demise.It seems that a former Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a JATO
(Jet Assisted Take-Off) unit. JATO units are solid fuel rockets used to give heavy military
transport airplanes an extra push for take-off from short airfields.
Dried desert lakebeds
are the location of choice for breaking the world ground vehicle speed record. The sergeant took the
JATO unit into the Arizona desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO
unit to his car, jumped in, accelerated to a high speed, and fired off the rocket.
The facts,
as best as could be determined, are as follows:
The operator was driving a 1967 Chevy Impala.
He ignited the JATO unit approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the
location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The vehicle quickly reached a speed
of between 250 and 300 mph and continued at that speed, under full power, for an additional 20-25
seconds. The soon-to-be pilot experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks
under full afterburners.
The Chevy remained on the straight highway for approximately 2.6
miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied the brakes, completely melting them, blowing the
tires, and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface. The vehicle then became airborne for an
additional 1.3 miles, impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, and left a blackened crater 3
feet deep in the rock.
Most of the driver's remains were not recovered; however, small
fragments of bone, teeth, and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards
were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering
wheel.
Ironically a still-legible bumper sticker was found, reading"How do you like my
driving? Dial 1-800-EAT-SHIT."
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