UPDATE: Cause of Jessi Combs’ fatal jet car crash revealed

Jessi Combs, the former host of the TV series “MythBusters,” was killed Tuesday while driving a jet-powered car in a desert in Oregon. She was 39.

Combs was piloting a jet-powered car on the Alvord Desert, where she was attempting break her own land-speed record in a four-wheeled vehicle of 398 mph. Police received a call shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday reporting the crash, according to KTVZ.

She earned the title of “fastest woman on four wheels” after she originally set the record in 2013. In 2016, Combs managed to hit 483 mph in a shakedown run before it was prematurely ended due to mechanical troubles.

In an Instagram post three days ago, Combs shared a photo of the jet-powered car with a caption saying that she was aiming to reach 619 mph.

Combs didn’t just appear on “MythBusters.” According to Road & Track, she was a host, builder, and technical expert on shows like “Xtreme 4x4″, “Overhaulin'”, “Truck U”, and “Two Guys Garage.” She also appeared on “Jay Leno’s Garage.”

Outside of TV, Combs competed in a range of racing venues. She joined the North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger team as driver in 2013, according to Road & Track.

Terry Madden, a team member of Combs', confirmed her death on Instagram Wednesday morning.

“It is with extreme grief, and in celebration of her life that her family and close friends share that race car driver, and TV personality Jessi Combs, passed away in a fatal crash, as she pursued setting a land speed record in the North American Eagle on August, 27th 2019 on a dry lake bed in Oregon,” a spokesperson for Combs family later told Yahoo Entertainment.

“Jessi’s most notable dream was to become the fastest woman on Earth, a dream she had been chasing since 2012. Combs was one of the rare dreamers with the bravery to turn those possibilities into reality, and she left this earth driving faster than any other woman in history.”

Combs is survived by her parents, siblings, step-siblings, and love Madden, according to Yahoo.

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