MythBusters Episode 17: "Elevator of Death, Levitation Machine"
Air Date: October 6, 2004
It is possible to survive a freefalling elevator by jumping up at the last moment before it hits the ground.
busted
The jumping power of a human being cannot cancel out the falling velocity of the elevator. The best speculative advice from an elevator expert would be to lie on the elevator floor instead of jumping. Adam and Jamie speculated the attendant survived because the tight elevator shaft created an air cushion. This together with spring action from slack elevator cable could have slowed the car to survivable speeds.
(This myth is fueled by the story of an elevator attendant found alive but badly injured in an elevator car that had fallen down a shaft in the Empire State Building after a B-25 Medium Bomber crashed into it in 1945.)
An average person can build a home-made makeshift hovercraft on a budget of under $500.00.
plausible
While they did cheat and go slightly over-budget both Adam and Jamie built two separate functional hovercraft. While Adam’s "Lilypad Flyer" and Jamie’s "Hyneman Hoverboard" were both rather impractical they worked nonetheless.
Newer: Episode 18: "Beat the Radar Detector"
Older: Episode 16: "Ancient Death Ray, Skunk Cleaning, What Is Bulletproof?"
I think that although a good effort was made to make a home-made levitation machine it failed. But one thing I want to know is whether an inflatable skirt was used, the type same as those on large hovercrafts because it greatly improves the obsticle handling capabilities of the machine.
August 12, 2007 at 11:37 AMI love your show its the best ever i think you shoud have a welder week and test welder myths and I am 10 years old and now how to rod weld and my dad taught me how you have the best show ever i want to meet you adam and jami i live in kelowna that sucks i cant meet you. I hope you talk about me on the show a bet matthew
September 18, 2007 at 2:33 PMI love Mythbustrs they do such cool stuff I think it would be awsome if I went on the mythbuster team when I was older I live in Palm Springs so I would have to fly there I think the levitation machin was really cool. I wish I had four leaf blowers. if you two worked together with a higher budget it would have worked so good.
December 8, 2007 at 1:18 AMI’m a grand fan of your show and whatnot, and I had decided to write one of my Journal’s about your show. I was amused by this episode and decided to write out it. Maybe when I’m older, I could try and become like you guys. Busting myths or having them prove you wrong is one of the fun things about your show, but the information I get from it is extravagant. Can’t wait to find episodes of your show.
October 16, 2008 at 2:02 PMhi, my brother and I once made a dummy but had no myths to do with it so we through it out of a tree. got any ideas for backyard dummy myths on a budget of £5?
October 21, 2008 at 12:03 PM