NW ARKANSAS - Standing in for his long-time friend, Buster, who was out for plastic surgery, Hayden participated in a filming of a special episode of Mythbusters, with a focus on "things aviation." Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman contracted with stunt pilot Chip Gibbons for the enviable toilet-paper-and-scotch-tape-parachute test. Hayden, before the flight and suited up in the contraption, was asked if he had any last words. He was, as usual, silently stoic.
All was normal, til the top of the loop, when Hayden made an unexpectedly early exit from the aircraft. While his "chute" did deploy, it did so only momentarily, before tearing itself to shreds.
Sadly, Hayden's demise was witnessed by his two cousins, Karl and Lloyd, who had traveled from East Lansing to witness Hayden's leap into fame, no pun intended. Karl commented only briefly to the media, reminiscing of Hayden's many challenges growing up, and their mother's words to the young lad, now hauntingly poetic: "Hayden, if at first you don't succeed, don't take up skydiving."
It is expected that the episode will air later this winter, along with a re-run of the airplane-on-a-treadmill episode (made famous, coincidentally, by a group of Hayden's companions known only by their code name, "POA").
When Jamie and Adam were asked if this myth would be classified as plausible, they looked at us, then at Hayden. Their answer? "We think this one's shattered."
