 A Piper Saratoga similar to the accident aircraft | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | July 16, 1999 |
| Summary | Loss of control in marginal VMC |
| Site | Atlantic Ocean, off the west coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, U.S. 41°17′37″N 70°58′39″W / 41.29361°N 70.97750°W[1] |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Piper PA-32R-301 Saratoga II |
| Operator | Private |
| Call sign | SARATOGA 9253 NOVEMBER |
| Registration | N9253N[2] |
| Flight origin | Essex County Airport, New Jersey |
| Stopover | Martha's Vineyard Airport, Massachusetts |
| Destination | Barnstable Municipal Airport, Massachusetts |
| Passengers | 2 |
| Crew | 1 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr. was killed when the light aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Kennedy's wife Carolyn Bessette and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette were also on board and were killed.[3][4] The Piper Saratoga departed from New Jersey's Essex County Airport; its intended route was along the coastline of Connecticut and across Rhode Island Sound to Martha's Vineyard Airport.[5][6]
The official investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that Kennedy fell victim to spatial disorientation while descending over water at night and consequently lost control of his plane. Kennedy did not hold an instrument rating and therefore was only certified to fly under visual flight rules (VFR). At the time of the crash, the weather and light conditions were such that all basic landmarks were obscured, making visual flight challenging, although legally still permissible.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
NTSB.Factualwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "FAA Registry (N9253N)". Federal Aviation Administration.
- ^ "Friends Remember Lauren Bessette, Who Was Thriving at Morgan Stanley". The Observer. July 26, 1999. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
- ^ "JFK Jr. killed in plane crash". History. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
- ^ Zuckoff, Mitchell; Brelis, Matthew (July 18, 1999). "Another Kennedy tragedy". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Boston Globe). p. 1A.
- ^ "Kennedy's intended route". Sunday Star-News. (Wilmington, North Carolina). (map). July 18, 1999. p. 1A.