John F. Kennedy Jr. was regarded as American royalty. He was the son of the 35th president of the United States, and in the wake of his father’s assassination, he grew to be a symbol of hope, the heir apparent to a Camelot that was cut short.
Twenty-five years ago, a plane piloted by the 38-year-old attorney and George magazine founder crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing him, as well as his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and his sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette.
July 16 marks the grim anniversary of their deaths. But that day was only the beginning of a period of shock and uncertainty. Here, we take a look back at the events that surround the tragedy.
July 15, 1999
Kennedy Jr. made plans to attend the wedding of his cousin Rory Kennedy in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, on July 17. However, according to several sources at the time, his wife was upset and didn’t want to accompany him.
In “The Kennedy Curse,” author Edward Klein claimed that was the reason why, on Thursday, July 15, Bessette-Kennedy’s sister offered to join the couple on the upcoming trip, at least as far as Martha’s Vineyard, where she intended to spend the weekend with friends.
July 16, 1999
RoseMarie Terenzio, the chief of staff for George, as well as JFK Jr.’s personal assistant and publicist, recalled that Bessette-Kennedy’s reluctance to attend the wedding continued on the day of the flight.
In her 2012 book, “Fairy Tale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss,” Terenzio explained that the 33-year-old, who’d been married to Kennedy for nearly three years at that point, had been feeling neglected by her husband.
“I’m not a priority,” Terenzio remembered Bessette-Kennedy telling her. “It’s always something else. George. Somebody getting fired. An event. A trip to Italy to meet advertisers.”
According to Terenzio, she’s the one who finally convinced Bessette-Kennedy to go anyway.
“I know, but now’s not the time to take a stand,” she told her. “His whole family is going to be at this wedding, and you need to go with him. ... You don’t want to put John in a position where he has to explain where you are, and you don’t want to put yourself in a position of being judged. You get enough of that.”
That night, Bessette-Kennedy and her sister joined JFK Jr. in his single-engine Piper Saratoga, and at 8:38 p.m., they departed from New Jersey’s Essex County Airport. Though it would be some time before anyone knew for certain, approximately an hour later, the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
July 17, 1999
In the early hours of Saturday morning, CNN reported that Kennedy’s family contacted the Coast Guard to report that his plane never arrived. Search and rescue efforts began before daylight, but by day’s end, hope was fading.
Debris from the flight was found about 200 yards off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, along with Lauren Bessette’s suitcase.
“There is always hope,” Coast Guard Lt. Gary Jones said, according to The Washington Post. “But unfortunately, when you find certain pieces of evidence, you have to be prepared for anything.”
Rory Kennedy’s wedding was postponed.
July 18, 1999
On Sunday, as search efforts moved from rescue to recovery, Present Bill Clinton addressed the nation.
“As the search continues, I want to express our family’s support and offer our prayers and those of all Americans for John Kennedy Jr.; his wife, Carolyn; her sister, Lauren; and to their fine families,” he said from the lawn of the White House.
He added, “For more than 40 years now, the Kennedy family has inspired Americans to public service, strengthened our faith in the future and moved our nation forward. Through it all, they have suffered much and given more.”
July 19, 1999
Several vessels, including the sonar-equipped National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s survey ship NOAAS Rude, launched underwater searches for the wreckage of the plane, per CNN.
July 20, 1999
The plane’s fuselage was discovered at a depth of more than 100 feet, per CNN.
July 21, 1999
Search efforts ended on Wednesday, July 21, as Navy divers recovered the bodies of JFK Jr., Bessette-Kennedy and Bessette from the shattered fuselage.
Autopsies, which were conducted that evening, revealed that all three died on impact.
July 22, 1999
On Thursday, the Kennedy and Bessette families gathered aboard the Navy destroyer USS Briscoe for a burial at sea near the recovery site, the Post reported.
July 23, 1999
A mass was held in honor of Kennedy Jr. at New York City’s Church of St. Thomas one week after his final flight. He was eulogized by his uncle Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
“We thank the millions who have rained blossoms down on John’s memory,” the senator said, according to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. “He and his bride have gone to be with his mother and father, where there will never be an end to love. He was lost on that troubled night, but we will always wake for him, so that his time, which was not doubled, but cut in half, will live forever in our memory, and in our beguiled and broken hearts.”
He added, “We dared to think ... that this John Kennedy would live to comb gray hair, with his beloved Carolyn by his side. But like his father, he had every gift but length of years.”
July 6, 2000
Nearly one year after the crash, the Post reported that the National Transportation Safety Board determined the crash was likely caused by Kennedy’s “failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation.”
The NTSB added, “Factors in the accident were haze, and the dark night.”
The biggest loss: what could have been
JFK Jr. was an ambitious man with goals, both politically and socially, far broader than any he’d realized by the time of his death.
“His legacy was really about who he would’ve become,” Brian Steel, his longtime friend, said in 2020. “I just think America, and maybe the world, would have been a better place.”
