Several witnesses, pilots and medical experts have revealed eerie warning signs that were ignored before John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette, and his sister Lauren Bessette tragically died in a plane crash.
On the hazy night of July 16, 1999, JFK Jr., the son of the late President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, was piloting a small airplane.
John was scheduled to fly a red and white Piper Saratoga from Essex Airport in Caldwell, N.J., to Martha’s Vineyard (to drop Lauren off), then head to Hyannis Port with Carolyn for his cousin Rory Kennedy’s wedding. However, the couple never succeeded.
Investigators believe John experienced spatial ataxia (misperceiving one’s position or movement relative to the Earth) and the plane plummeted into the ocean, killing everyone on board.
Page Six obtained a March 2000 fact report conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board. The report examines the chilling moments leading up to the fatal crash that plunged the nation into collective grief.
landing support
A few weeks before the fatal accident, John asked a flight instructor to help him land the plane because he had broken his ankle a month earlier.
According to a summary of an interview with one of John’s flight instructors, because John “didn’t have a cast on his leg,” the instructor had to “task the plane and assist with the landing.”
The anonymous instructor also told investigators that John, referred to in the report as the “accident pilot,” was “not ready for equipment evaluation as of July 1, 1999” and that “additional training and instruction would be required to pass the evaluation.”
However, the instructor said John appeared to be “competent” on autopilot.
last lunch horror
Richard Blow, a senior editor at John’s George Magazine, was having lunch with his boss on the day of the fatal accident, the NTSB reported.
“The witness stated that he had lunch with the pilot on the day of the accident and that the pilot was in good health,” a memo included in the report said.
“During lunch, witnesses expressed concern to the pilot about his injuries and flight,” the report continues. “The pilot replied that he was looking forward to the flight.”
Blow told investigators that John had “injured his ankle” and was “frustrated that he couldn’t fly.”
The journalist concluded that John was “an avid student of flight” and “dedicated to improving the art of flight.”
solo flight
According to the memorandum, John refused to fly with a flight instructor on the day of the accident.
Robert Melena, one of John’s instructors, said he offered to fly with John on that tragic day.
“The instructor stated that he spoke with the pilot on the day of the accident and offered to be a passenger on the accident flight,” the memorandum states.
Melena claimed that John told his flight instructor that he wanted to do it alone.
“Additionally, the instructor reiterated that he had no knowledge that the pilot was operating the accident aircraft without an instructor on board,” the memo said.
mixed reviews
Documents say John worked with many flight instructors over the years, and each teacher gave a different opinion of his skill set.
One instructor described John’s flying ability as “average, not outstanding.” The instructor, who believed John had “stopped practicing his instrument” because of his injury, said he “showed improvement with each flight” and “seemed to be well adapted to his abilities.”
John’s lead instructor felt that his basic instrument flight skills and simulator work were “excellent”. However, John said, “When given multiple tasks during a flight, he had trouble managing those tasks.”
A third instructor described John’s skills as “average,” while a fourth described his situational awareness and general knowledge of aviation and flight as “excellent.”
worried about the weather
According to the report, there was little visibility the night John took off in the accident plane.
A pilot who was planning a flight from Caldwell to Martha’s Vineyard on the night of the accident said the sky was “very hazy” by the time John’s plane took off.
The pilot said he canceled the flight due to “the current weather conditions in COW, the fact that I couldn’t bring a friend with me, and the fact that I didn’t have to spend money on a hotel room on Martha’s Vineyard.”
When asked about the weather conditions that night, Melena told investigators, “It would be uncomfortable for the accident pilot to conduct VFR at night on the same route and under similar weather conditions.”
use of crutches
According to medical records, John broke his ankle in a hang gliding accident on June 1, 1999. The next day, he underwent surgery for his injuries.
On the day of the accident, witnesses saw John walking on crutches. He also saw his sister-in-law “retrieving a cane from her white convertible” before returning to the plane.
John’s physical therapist said it was unclear whether the Kennedy heir’s gait was due to “this ‘slight’ movement restriction or mild pain.”
However, John’s orthopedic surgeon said he believed the pilot could have “applied the same pressure to his left leg as would be required to his right leg during emergency braking of a motor vehicle.”
Doctors confirmed that John had not been prescribed any medication for his injuries.
Interest in JFK Jr. and his wife has been reignited after Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon played them in Ryan Murphy’s Love Story series, now available on Hulu.
