A Piper Saratoga similar to the one flown byJohn F. Kennedy Jr.
Accident summary
DateJuly 16, 1999
SummaryPilot error
SiteAtlantic Ocean, off the coast ofMartha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, U.S.
41.301°N 70.959°WCo[1]
Passengers2 (Carolyn and Lauren Bessette)
Crew1 (John F. Kennedy Jr.)
Fatalities3 (all)
Survivors0
Aircraft typePiper PA-32R-301, Saratoga II
Operatorprivate
RegistrationN9253N
Flight originEssex County Airport, New Jersey (CDW)
DestinationMartha's Vineyard Airport, Massachusetts (MVY)
On July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr. died when the Piper Saratoga light aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. His wife, Carolyn Bessette, and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette, were also killed. The flight had departed from Essex County Airport (CDW) in Fairfield Township, Essex County, New Jersey. The intended flight path was along the coastline ofConnecticut and across Rhode Island Sound to its final destination of Martha's Vineyard Airport (MVY).
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) declared the crash was caused by: "the pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation".[1] Kennedy did not hold a certification for IFR flight, but he did continue to fly after weather conditions obscured visual landmarks.

Contents

Background[edit]

On the evening of July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr. piloted a Piper Saratoga II HP to attend a wedding of his cousin, Rory, to Mark Bailey. The plane also carried his wife, Carolyn Bessette, and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette. Kennedy had purchased his plane from Air Bound Aviation three months before the crash.[2] Carolyn and Lauren were in the second row of seats, which faced the rear of the plane and were back to back with the pilot's seat.[3]

Timeline of events[edit]

Kennedy had checked in with the air traffic control tower at Martha's Vineyard Airport before departure. At 8:39 p.m., Kennedy's plane departed. At 10:05 p.m., Martha's Vineyard Airport contacted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) office in Bridgeport, Connecticut about Kennedy's plane, but was told that no information could be released over the phone.[4] At 2:15 a.m. the next day, the Kennedys reported to the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station, that the plane had not arrived. At 4 a.m., the Coast Guard began their search and rescue operation to find the missing plane. The day after Kennedy's disappearance, his cousin, Anthony Stanislas Radziwill, told the press that if Kennedy was still alive "he'll find a way to get out. He possesses the will to survive, enough will for all three of them".[5] Officials were not optimistic about finding Kennedy after several debris from his plane were recovered in the Atlantic Ocean. "There is always hope", Coast Guard Lt. Gary Jones said on July 17. "But unfortunately, when you find certain pieces of evidence, you have to be prepared for anything".[6]
That same day, President Bill Clinton spoke with Kennedy's older sister, Caroline, and called his paternal uncle, Ted. Clinton also spoke with Andrew Cuomo, who at the time was married to Kennedy's cousin, Kerry. "He wanted to let them know he was thinking about them, that we'll do everything we can, and that our prayers are with them", Clinton spokesman Joe Lockhart said.[6] Clinton ordered warships of the U.S. Navy to assist in the search for Kennedy's plane. Critics argued that this was an abuse of taxpayer dollars, as no ordinary citizen would receive similar treatment.[7]
On July 18, a Coast Guard admiral declared an end of hope that Kennedy could be found alive. Clinton said that afternoon that the Kennedys had "suffered much, and given more". He also called for the Kennedys to feel "the strength of God, the love of their friends and the prayers of their fellow citizens". The Coast Guard regional commander had conceded that the average crash victim afloat in waters like these clings to life less than a third of the 40 hours that had passed. State police divers were told later that night they would begin searching for bodies and wreckage at "first light." "It gives the family a sense of closure when you recover someone", William Freeman of the Massachusetts Underwater Recovery Unit said in an interview. "That's the only gratifying thing about it. Otherwise, you have to be a very different person to do the job. That's not to say it doesn't bother you".[8]
On July 19, the fragments of Kennedy's plane were found by the NOAA vessel Rude using side-scan sonar. At 11:30 p.m., on July 20th, the fuselage of Kennedy's plane was finally located on the ocean floor by the salvage ship USNS Grasp (T-ARS-51).[9] Navy divers were allowed to descend into the fifty-two degree water. The divers found part of the shattered plane strewn over a broad area of seabed 120 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.[10]
The search ended on the late afternoon hours of July 21, when the bodies of Kennedy and the Bessette sisters were recovered from the ocean floor by Navy divers. The discovery was made after examining high-resolution images resulting from a three-dimensional map which the Rude had produced by scanning the ocean bottom.[11] Divers found Carolyn and Lauren's bodies near the twisted and broken fuselage, and Kennedy's body was still strapped in the pilot's seat.[5] Admiral Richard M. Larrabee of the Coast Guard said that all three bodies were "near and under" the fuselage, still strapped in.[12] The bodies of Kennedy and the Bessette sisters were recovered from the ocean floor by Navy divers and taken to the county medical examiner's office by motorcade.[9][13] In the evening of July 21, autopsies at the county medical examiner's office revealed that the crash victims had died upon impact. At the same time, the Kennedy and Bessette families announced their plans for memorial services.[13] In the late hours of July 21, the three bodies were taken from Hyannis to Duxbury, where they were cremated in the Mayflower Cemetery crematorium.[14]

Investigation[edit]

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) declared that Kennedy's plane had crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard; the probable cause of the crash was pilot error: "[Kennedy]'s failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation".[15] Kennedy was disqualified to fly his plane by "instruments only". The crash occurred in conditions not legally requiring such qualification. Other pilots flying similar routes reported no visual horizon due to haze.[16]

Possible contributing factors[edit]

Haze and visibility
Hazy conditions existed on the night of the crash. Especially at night, haze can lead to spatial disorientation for pilots. Although the weather was officially listed as VFR (Visual Flight Rules), allowing Kennedy to fly his plane that night despite his lack of an instrument rating, the visibility was poor in Essex County, New Jersey, and airports along his flight path reported visibilities between 5 and 8 miles with haze and few clouds. Other pilots flying similar routes on the night of the accident reported no visual horizon while flying over the water because of haze. Also, the NTSB reported on one pilot that cancelled a similar flight that evening due to "poor" weather. The conditions near the crash site were "Clear skies at or below 12,000 feet; visibility 10 miles".[1]
Pilot experience