Horror as out-of-control boat hurtles through air at 200mph before smashing into lake

This is the shocking moment a was sent flying into the air at 200mph before smashing into a lake as it attempted to break a record. Horrified onlookers watched on as the doomed boat spun out of control mid-air across the Havasu Lake in while its drivers tried to at Saturday’s 2025 Desert Storm Shootout .

The vessel had at first made a promising start, seamlessly zooming across the lake floor to a nearby audience who filmed the boat in amazement whilst sitting on chairs. But chaos soon erupted as the bow of the boat lifted up into the sky. Shocking video footage captured the moment the speedboat somersaulted in the air and was flung forward by the wind before it crashed back down into the lake.

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A witness told Fox News: "My heart dropped when I saw that boat get airborne. It's never something you want to look at when you're out there having fun as a driver for sure".

The speedboat’s drivers - using the pseudonyms John Wayne and Clint Eastwood - were hoping to make history on their 388 skater boat with 10,000 horsepower.

The pair, from Freedom One Racing based out of Kansas City, Missouri, were attempting the challenge at the lake's Desert Storm Shootout.

Publisher for Speedboat Magazine Ray Lee said the boat was travelling at a speed of 200.1mph when the horror collision occurred. He told Fox News: "It's a 388 skater and it's estimated at about 10,000 horsepower.

Lee said: "They came to Lake Havasu earlier in the week intending to break the record here for the desert storm shootout, That was their first pass of the day and when they went over, the radar picked them up at 200.1 mph."

"So they came to Lake Havasu earlier in the week intending to break the record here for the desert storm shootout. That was their first pass of the day and when they went over, the radar picked them up at 200.1 mph."

Both drivers of the boat miraculously survived the crash and were only left with minor injuries.

Since 1963, Lake Havasu has been the site of 11 deaths, including four personal watercraft deaths and eight speedboat incidents.

In 2018, and accident dubbed the "Lickity Split" resulted in the deaths of two men, Brad Kloepfer and Paul Selberg - after their boat, named Lickity Split, crashed at speeds exceeding 150mph.