need to know
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Kyle Bailey, the last person to see JFK Jr., Carolyn Bessette and her sister Lauren on July 16, 1999, revealed what he saw that night
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Bailey canceled plans to fly to Martha’s Vineyard that afternoon because of thick fog, and when he saw JFK Jr. taking off in a plane, he thought, “I hope he has a coach with him.”
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The next morning, when Bailey called to check on the weather, John’s Piper Saratoga was missing. “My heart sank,” he recalled
On July 16, 1999, 25-year-old Kyle Bailey was at the Essex County Airport in Caldwell, New Jersey. He had planned to fly to Martha’s Vineyard in the evening, but changed his mind due to weather conditions.
While Bailey was still tending the plane at the airport, he saw John F. Kennedy Jr. and his sister-in-law Lauren Bessette arriving in John’s white Hyundai convertible, followed shortly after by Caroline Bessette Kennedy arriving in a town car.
John had planned to fly out that night, first to Martha’s Vineyard to see Lauren off, and then he and Caroline flew to Hyannis Port the next day for his cousin Rory Kennedy’s wedding. At the time, he was receiving instrument training and flying under visual flight rules.
Bailey, 52, an aviation analyst for Fox News and other outlets, has now shared the details of that night and its tragic ending in a new book, Eyewitnesses: JFK Jr.’s fatal flightself-published on Amazon.
“Witness: JFK Jr.’s Fateful Flight” by Kyle Bailey
According to Bailey’s recollection, around 4 p.m. on July 16, 1999, he canceled his plan to fly to Martha’s Vineyard.
“As the temperatures rise and the weather gets foggier, I’m concerned that fog may soon appear along the coast,” he told People. “The concern is that if the fog covers everything as I get closer to the island, I won’t be able to maintain a visual view of the airport as I approach.”
“You need a field of view to maintain level flight,” he explains.
At about 8 o’clock that night, Bailey saw John arriving at the airport, wearing a white T-shirt and a baseball cap. He walked with a cane and the day before had a cast removed from his ankle from a summer paragliding accident.
“I see him all the time at the airport, and Caroline,” Bailey said. “John wants his dog [Friday] Be with him. Everyone there knew him, but people deserted him. I would see him on the pay phone, but no one knew who he was. “
John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Bessette Kennedy in front of their Tribeca apartment in October 1996
The night of July 16, 1999, was a “quiet night,” said Bailey, who witnessed John’s preflight inspection. Later, he said, “I saw John and Caroline having a private discussion by the hangar.”
“Before I knew it, he started the engine,” he continued. “I heard the engines rev up and saw the plane take off and make its final turn, heading directly due east toward Long Island Sound.”
“The sky was a deep orange and the sun was setting,” he recalled. “It was very foggy, hot and humid. I remember thinking, ‘I hope he has a coach with him.'” “
John’s Piper Saratoga took off at 8:38 that night.
Unbeknownst to Bailey, earlier that day, John had told his flight instructor that he was not needed and that he would “do it alone.”
When Bailey woke up the next morning, he recalled, “The weather was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. I called the FAA flight service station’s 800 number between 6 and 7 a.m. to check the weather to get the forecast and see if I could fly.”
“The missing plane alert was issued before anything happened,” he said. “Around 8:40 p.m., a red and white Piper Saratoga took off from Essex County Airport with John’s tail number. My heart sank because that was John’s tail number.”
Matt Campbell/AFP/Getty
Five days later, the wreckage of John’s Piper, the Saratoga, was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean about seven miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard, and the bodies of the three passengers were pulled from the seabed.
The NTSB’s aviation investigation final report concluded: “The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot’s failure to maintain control of the aircraft during a nighttime landing on water due to spatial disorientation. Contributing factors to the accident were haze and dark night.”
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