Kenny POWERs

The write-up

The 1979 rocket-car jump across the St. Lawrence that went wrong. Powers replaced Ken Carter at the last minute; the car flew 506 feet.

1. Exhibit A

   Carter's project

   Ken 'The Mad Canadian' Carter announced the St. Lawrence jump in 1976. He built a long paved takeoff run and a tall ramp near Morrisburg, Ontario. ABC's planned 1976 broadcast fell through when the car and ramp weren't ready, and attempts in 1977 and 1978 were also cancelled.

2. Exhibit B

   The switch

   On September 26, 1979, Carter aborted an attempt about five seconds before takeoff. Believing he had lost his nerve, the backers and film crew arranged for Kenny Powers to make the jump while Carter was away at a hotel in Ottawa. The NFB documentary gives health concerns about Carter as the reason.

3. Exhibit C

   The jump

   Bumps in the runway cracked the fiberglass body, and the car reached about 180 mph at the ramp instead of the planned 270 mph. The parachutes deployed early, and the car traveled about 506 feet before landing in shallow water off the Canadian shore.

4. Exhibit D

   Injuries

   Powers broke eight vertebrae, three ribs and a wrist. Afterward, Carter said Powers had been unprepared and could have been killed. The two remained friends until Carter's death.

5. Exhibit E

   Aftermath

   Carter was killed on September 5, 1983, during a rocket-car jump in Peterborough, Ontario. Powers kept performing stunts for years afterward and died in 2009.