Erik Gates, a MythBusters show regular has died following a thirty foot fall in a work-related accident. Erik Gates is the owner of the electrical company Gateco Electric. He was walking on the roof of the Xirrus Inc Building at 2101 Corporate Center Drive in Newburry Park, where his brother Dirk Gates is president and CEO when the accident happens. Gates fell through the skylight and dies from chest injuries. Steve DeGennaro, Xirrus Inc.’s co-founder and chief financial officer said:
“He was a good guy. He survived cancer, he jumps with parachutes, he base jumps. He’s an active guy who was used to taking precautions. This was a freak accident that shouldn’t have happened.”
Gates fell about 30 feet, said a spokesman for California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, commonly known as Cal/OSHA.
The coroner’s investigation and examination of the body showed it was an accident, Gainer said. However, officials are not sure how Gates fell because the co-worker who was there with him had his back turned to him at the time of the fall.
Erik and his brother Dirk Gates were active in rocketry and operated a website, Gates Brother Rocketry. It was Gates’ expertise in rockets that initiated his involvement with MythBusters. On the MythBusters official Twitter feed, condolences were expressed for Gates earlier today.
Erik Gates appeared on four episodes of MythBusters as the shows “Amateur Rocket Expert.” He appeared on the initial pilot for the show in 2003, and in subsequent episodes Ming Dynasty Astronaut (2004,) Bullet Proof Water, 360 Degree Swing (2005,) and Confederate Rocket (2005.)
