On this day in history, July 21, 1999, Navy divers recovered the bodies of John F. Kennedy Jr., 38, his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, 33, and her sister Lauren Bessette, 34, at about 10:30 a.m. in 116 feet of water in the Atlantic Ocean about eight miles the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, following a plane crash, according to History.com.
After scouring the ocean floor for about 18 hours, the recovery team discovered Kennedy’s body in the cockpit.
The women’s bodies were found amid the twisted wreckage, the same source noted.
All three were still strapped in their seats, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Richard Larrabee said at the time.
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“The bodies were brought up from the ocean floor about 4:30 p.m.,” Larrabee said, reported the same source.
Autopsies concluded that the three passengers died upon impact.
Investigators studying the wreckage Kennedy’s Piper Saratoga found no problems with its mechanical or navigational systems, noted History.com.
“In their final report released in 2000, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the crash was caused by an inexperienced pilot who became disoriented in the dark and lost control,” the same source reported.
At the time, it was reported that one of Kennedy’s instructors told the National Transportation Safety Board that he offered to accompany Kennedy in flight on the evening of the crash — but that Kennedy refused, choosing instead to fly alone.
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The report also said that haze probably obscured the horizon on the evening of the flight, which likely caused Kennedy to become disoriented, according to The New York Times.
On July 16, 1999, Kennedy, his wife Carolyn and her sister Lauren were flying that evening to Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, via a stop at Martha’s Vineyard to drop off Lauren Bessette.
From there, Kennedy and his wife were scheduled to continue on to the Kennedy compound on Cape Cod’s Hyannis Port to attend the wedding of Kennedy’s cousin, Rory Kennedy, as Biography.com recounted.
Kennedy and Lauren Bessette, a vice president for Morgan Stanley, left Manhattan for the Essex County Airport in New Jersey, where Kennedy’s Piper Saratoga light plane was waiting, a little after 6:30 pm.
Carolyn Bessette arrived separately, sometime after 8 p.m, the same source noted.
The Federal Aviation Administration cleared the plane for takeoff at 8:38 p.m.
Kennedy checked in with the control tower at Martha’s Vineyard, but after the plane failed to arrive on time it was reported missing, according to Biography.com.
It wasn’t until the morning of July 21 that the three bodies were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean.
During the search-and-recovery mission, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) vessels with sonar equipment were called in to work alongside other government assets deployed at the request of President Bill Clinton, as the Cape Cod Times reported.
The recovery effort to find the wreckage of a private plane flown by a private citizen is testament to the deep symbolism and historical importance that many Americans attach to the Kennedy name, said The Washington Post.
“The effort also has raised questions about whether other private citizens would receive similar treatment,” the same source said.
On July 22, 1999, the cremated remains of the three were buried at sea during a ceremony on the USS Briscoe, a Navy destroyer, said History.com.
The next day, a private Mass for Kennedy and his wife was held on July 23 at the Church of St. Thomas More in Manhattan, where the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis worshiped, noted the same source.
President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton were in attendance.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., the uncle of the deceased, delivered a eulogy.
“From the first day of his life, John seemed to belong not only to our family, but to the American family. He had a legacy, and he learned to treasure it,” said the senator.
“He was part of a legend, and he learned to live with it,” he is quoted as saying.
On July 24, friends and family remembered Lauren Bessette at a service in Greenwich, Connecticut, noted the Associated Press.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr., was born on Nov. 25, 1960, just a few weeks after his father and namesake was elected the 35th president of the United States, said History.com.
On his third birthday, young “John-John” attended the funeral of his assassinated father.
He was famously photographed saluting his father’s coffin in a searing image, the same source indicated.
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After graduating from Brown University, JFK Jr. attended New York University Law School.
In 1995, he founded the political magazine George.
On Sept. 21, 1996, Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette, a fashion publicist, were married in a private ceremony off the coast of Georgia on Cumberland Island.
