John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette, and her sister Lauren Bessette died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999 off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

JFK Jr. was ‘likely in over his head’ on night of fatal plane crash, aviation expert says

John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette, and her sister Lauren Bessette died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999 off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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March 25, 2026 8:07 p.m. ET

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John F. Kennedy Jr; a Piper Saratoga airplane. Credit:

Brownie Harris/Corbis via Getty; Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

- JFK Jr. was "likely in over his head" the night of the crash due to the hazy weather conditions and his disorientation while flying, according to an aviation expert.

- The political scion, his wife Carolyn Bessette, and her sister Lauren Bessette died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999 off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.

- Interest surrounding JFK Jr. and Carolyn has increased due to the dramatization of their relationship in the television series *Love Story*, which ends on Thursday.**

An aviation expert is breaking down the airplane accident that killed John F. Kennedy Jr.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Jeff Guzzetti gave insight in the 2024 book, *JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography *by Liz McNeil and RoseMarie Terenzio, into the fatal plane crash that took the lives of JFK Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette, and her sister Lauren Bessette on July 16, 1999.

According to the aviation expert, JFK Jr. was "likely in over his head" the night of the crash due to the hazy weather conditions and becoming disoriented while navigating the conditions. (It's also worth noting that JFK Jr. opted to not fly with his instructor, Bob Merena, telling him "he wanted to do it alone," per the National Transportation Safety Board's report.)

The plane took off that evening at 8:39 p.m., later than originally planned, from Essex Airport in Caldwell, N.J., and was planning to fly into Martha's Vineyard to drop off Lauren before JFK Jr. and Carolyn continued to Cape Cod for the wedding of his cousin, Rory Kennedy.

Guzzetti said that once the Piper Saratoga took off, they flew along the Connecticut and Rhode Island coastline before turning to the sea towards Martha's Vineyard.

John F. Kennedy Jr. flying in 1998.

Laura Cavanaugh/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Because of the hazy conditions that evening, Kennedy was unable to see outside due to "black ocean with three to five miles of visibility in haze." The conditions were technically visual flight rules, but they also could have been instrument flight rules, where Kennedy "must scan" his "instruments" to fly safely instead.

Guzzetti noted that Kennedy "was trained to look outside to get his visual cues." There were none that night.

The Piper Saratoga then began to meander for 30 miles before it would ultimately descend miles from Martha's Vineyard. Guzzetti said that the flight path was "indicative of something called spatial disorientation." Kennedy's inner ear was making him disoriented and he was unable to tell where exactly he was turning the airplane. There was a disconnect between what he felt and how he reacted.

“I would expect that the pilot would be very confused and perhaps a little frightened because the instruments may have not been matching up with how he was feeling," Guzzetti said of the ultimate descent, where the airplane spiraled nose-down.**

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“The plane went into one final turn and it stayed in that turn all the way down to the ocean," he explained. "If he just would’ve flown straight and level and not done the maneuvering, he would’ve been over Martha’s Vineyard in three to five minutes."

As for the time in which the plane began to divert and impacted the ocean? Seventeen seconds. Guzzetti concluded: "It was a dark night, the moon wasn’t well lit, there was haze. He was likely in over his head."**

The crash occurred that night at 9:40 p.m, an hour after takeoff. The plane was recovered on July 20, and the passengers' bodies were recovered on the ocean floor the following day. It was determined that they died on impact.

John F. Kennedy Jr.

Barry King/WireImage

Interest surrounding JFK Jr. and Carolyn has increased due to the dramatization of their relationship in the television series *Love Story *starring Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon.

The *Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette *finale airs on FX on Thursday, March 26 and is available to stream on Hulu the following day.**

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