Ted Kennedy ~ Chappaquiddick DocumentaryThe Chappaquiddick incident was a single-vehicle automobile accident on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts on July 18, 1969. The incident involved longtime U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. His young colleague, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned. According to his own testimony, Kennedy accidentally drove his car off a one-lane bridge and into a tidal channel before swimming free, leaving the scene, and not reporting the accident for nine hours. Meanwhile, Kopechne had died in the car through drowning or suffocation. The next day, Kopechne's body and the car were finally recovered by divers. Kennedy pleaded guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of a crash after causing injury and later received a two-month suspended jail sentence. The Chappaquiddick incident became a national scandal, and likely influenced Kennedy's decision not to campaign for President in 1972 and 1976.