Mythbusters Accident

[Type70item]

I don't know if any of you are aware, but while testing a myth on the 6th a cannonball missed it's targert and did damage to two homes and a vehicle. They fired it from a supposed safe location at a bomb range nearby and have used that location over 100 times in the course of their shows run without incident. Below is a link to the news report.
http://youtu.be/Jj-CErr0VOY

How do you feel? Do you think that their show should be cancelled or altered to no longer involve experiments that have projectiles, or do you think it was a 1 in a million mistake that will be avoided in future

Me personally, I feel for the residents that received damages and quite a scare, but my plee for keeping the show on air (if not for the fact that I love it) is that they provide science in a formatt that young audiences will watch time and time again and really learn something, and lets face it, most kids are barely coherant during school hours. I think the show provides a valuable service to todays youth (and to us adults too)

[Oniya]

One thing that encourages me is that there were no injuries.  Also, they were at a bomb range, so they were taking reasonable precautions.  I would hope that the show's insurance covers the damages, and that the homeowners take the opportunity to maybe get autographed photos of the guys pointing at the holes.  (That's what I'd ask for, anyways - and maybe a trip with the little Oni to their workshop. For the kidling, of course.   O:))

[Type70item]

Agreed, I did find some photographs of them looking at the damages so I'm sure that the autographs were offered. In one of the interviews, Jamie said they wouldn't fire any more cannons at the bomb range, and from viewing the casts twitter's, they do intend to help with the repairs

I worry about the negetive PR that this incident will bring, such as the producers forcing them to tone down any dangerous experiments based on one single event.

[Brandon]

Sounds like they took quite a few precautions but when firing a projectile weapon you always want to have a good backstop like a high rock or dirt wall. Before watching this I would have thought a concrete wall would have been enough  but after seeing this Im proven wrong.

Im a little disappointed in them thinking that garbage cans filled with water was an acceptable backstop though

[Type70item]

Yeah, even I am aware of that, I target shoot and I've seen how far a projectile can go if not stopped where it should be, granted a cannon is greatly scaling up from the 7.62 or 5.56 cals that I typically use, but common sense does dictate that the higher velocity an object is fired at, plus the mass and density of the object itself, requires a strong stopping force, like Brandon said, a dirt wall (which is what I use)

Their error *was* avoidable but I'm sure was just an overconfident miscalulation on there part (I cant really say untill I can watch the footage and see what sort of prep work they did)

[Oniya]

Im a little disappointed in them thinking that garbage cans filled with water was an acceptable backstop though

Maybe for bullets (a ballistic test tank is about the same thing), but not for something as massive as a cannonball. O_o

[Sabby]

I'm only surprised it took this long for an accident to happen. They take a lot of precautions, but I was always waiting for something like a malfunctioning rig to put someone on their ass while setting it up, or worst case scenario, shrapnel or debris somehow getting around the blast shield and doing serious damage to an ankle.

What I wasn't expecting was a cannonball to some poor guys house.

[Brandon]

To be fair, the backstop they intended to use was missed (according to the news report) and there was that concrete wall that I thought would have stopped the cannon ball. I think its fair to say they thought it would too

I think its fair to say that when they use guns and canons they need to go to an actual firing range next time. Not the bomb range which is made to be generally flat to stop large amounts of debris. The bomb range they use, as far as I can tell, is not designed for testing fire arms and artillery.

Regardless its good to see them taking responsibility for what happened and most importantly no one was injured

Edit: On second thought it depends on what kind of cannon they were using. If it was a civil war era cannon, ok. If were talking anything after WW1 then they're effing idiots for testing that in anything except a military firing range

[Type70item]

What I wasn't expecting was a cannonball to some poor guys house.

Though in all joking, it does prove that you can launch an large iron ball through a residential neighborhood without any human casualtys.. perhaps just a few very confused birds. Myth Confirmed

[Shjade]

While I wouldn't want to call them completely irresponsible, given the show's enthusiasm for "awesome explosions," I would not be surprised to hear they chose to use water-filled trashcans rather than a more mundane backstop like a pile of dirt because they thought a cannon blast plowing into those cans would look much cooler than just hitting a dirt hill. :|

[yobo]

Accidents happens all the time. As long as precautions have been taken, I don't see why this should be a reason to cancel the show. And as someone already pointed out, it is a wonder that they haven't had any accidents before. They have had a few near-accidents as I recall.

[Haloriel]

I know my household would be sad if this show were cancelled.  It's a lot of good fun, in my opinion.  A single mistake that they were indubitably insured for shouldn't be reason enough for such a drastic measure.  ;) 

+1 on workshop tour.

[Type70item]

Accidents happens all the time. As long as precautions have been taken, I don't see why this should be a reason to cancel the show. And as someone already pointed out, it is a wonder that they haven't had any accidents before. They have had a few near-accidents as I recall.

I can recall off the top of my head the most popular one where Adam ended up singing his eyebrows off.
Perhaps this accident could have some good results. A lot of people try to emulate their experiments at home, despite the warning at the top of the show, but they never see any failures of this calibur. Perhaps that will make people think twice about copying the show and causing themselves sometimes fatal injury

[Chris Brady]

Actually, that many trash cans filled with water CAN and WILL stop a cannonball.

Don't underestimate the density of water.

Remember, if you get something flying/falling at terminal velocity into water, it's actually harder than hitting ground!

Problem is, they MISSED.

[Type70item]

Problem is, they MISSED.

And it has been proven that sometimes men are poor judges of aim, or so my fiance tells me in regards to the toilet -.-

[Oniya]

Hey, maybe they should do an 'oops' show.  Sort of along the lines of 'We say not to do these things at home, and this is why!'


(Oh, and in regards to the aiming thing...  http://www.bombzai.com/sega-creates-video-game-toilet/ )

[DudelRok]

I'm pretty sure that the Mythbusters will handle things better the next time... and that all damages will be paid for. They aren't really the type to let that kind of thing slide, especially Jamie who's workshop would be at legal risk.

[Serephino]

Accidents happen, and no one got hurt.  I'm a little surprised because they're usually more careful though. 

[Callie Del Noire]

Accidents happen, and no one got hurt.  I'm a little surprised because they're usually more careful though. 

Agreed, I'm sure that something went wrong. They usually have a certified rangemaster around (Isn't Jaime a rangemaster as well?)

[Oniya]

Apparently (per Mr. Oniya) it was the B team (Grant et al.)

Ah  confirmation:

Savage and Hyneman were not present at the Alameda County bomb ordnance range - which the show has used for years and is nearly 1,000 yards west of the Shetty home - when the cannon fired at 4:15 p.m.  Tuesday.

They said the three other stars of the show -- Tory Belleci, Kari Byron and Grant Imahara -- had been "calibrating" a homemade cannon, firing a ball made of either steel or cast iron into water barrels and a brick wall to make sure it had the same power as a historical cannon.

[Type70item]

Nooooo, don't blame my kari >.> Well, that would explain some things though, I found it hard to believe that with all the years of experience that Jamie and Adam had, that a mistake like that could get made.

[Shjade]

I'm trying to picture the disapproving glare Jaime gave the Kari Crew after hearing about what they done did.

...

It doesn't look much different from his normal expression. >.>

[Type70item]

Something like that comes to mind

[Callie Del Noire]

http://www.perceptionbuilder.com/mythbusters-cannonball-map

[Craz]

http://www.perceptionbuilder.com/mythbusters-cannonball-map

Wow, that's quite the shot.

The Mythbusters are local, so this was on our local news last week. I admit, I giggled, once I heard no one was harmed.