Flying General Lee Car Almost Wipes Out Cameraman at ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ Event

In Somerset, Kentucky, crowds have been gathering to watch a General Lee car jump over a fountain. However, the stunt almost ended horrifically for one cameraman.

General Lee is a vehicle from the 1980s hit TV show The Dukes of Hazzard and is famous for flying through the air. The original car was a Dodge Charger, but for the stunt, the team used a Ford Crown Victoria instead, which flew 150 feet (46 meters) through a blue fountain.

Camera operator Mike Kolovich, a producer for Stunt Life, was standing on the road the car was landing on when it careered sideways and smashed into the protective barrier after its suspension broke and pilot Raymond Kohn lost all control.

Hurtling toward Kolovich at speed, the agile cameraman was able to get out of harm’s way at the last moment, and he grabbed his expensive ARRI camera, which he was using to film the stunt.

“I saw the video from another angle and noticed how fast the GL was on him and how quickly he got himself and the camera out of the way. As a fellow videographer, he followed rule number 1 to the letter, ‘always protect your gear! So hats off for saving the camera,” writes Steve Colwell on Facebook.

Many people were keen to see the footage Kolovich captured, but Stunt Life, who appear to have organized the whole show, haven’t yet shared any footage at the time of writing.

However, footage of the stunt filmed by members of the gathered public is well worth a watch.

Filming The Dukes of Hazzard once cost the life of a cameramen. Rodney Mitchell was filming in a camera crew truck when it overturned and killed him. The producers of the show paid out $3.5 million in damages to his family.