Thaindian News

July 16, 2009, marked ten years since the day, the single engine plane carrying John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bassette Kennedy and Carolyn’s sister Lauren Bassette had plunged in to the Atlantic Ocean. Even though years in the form of a decade has passed, the terrible tragedy remains just as raw and gnawing. JFK Jr., the true emblem of the legacy of his larger than life parents, a very endearing and popular public figure and his equally stunning and chic wife still make for a very hard to forget couple.

JFK Jr. had a penchant for flying and had been known to be an established pilot; his hobby suited his persona.The 33 year old Carolyn Bassette was more of a private person in comparison to her exuberant spouse. One thing she however preferred was flying with her husband. On the day of the fateful journey, the three, the Kennedy couple and Carolyn’s 34 year old sister Lauren had boarded the Piper Saratoga light aircraft at the Essex County Airport in Caldwell, New Jersey. It was piloted by JFK Jr. They were headed to attend the wedding of Kennedy’s cousin Rory, in Hyannis, Massachusetts, after dropping off Lauren Bassette on Martha’s Vineyard.

The flight departed at 8:38 p.m; his last recorded words were “Five three November to two two, thanks” which he told the tower.

The wreck’s remains were discovered four days later and the cause of the accident has never been determined till date, though NTSB concluded that Kennedy’s relative inexperience in flying under poor visibility at nightfall coupled with his recently recovered fractured leg may have been the reasons that took the plane and its passengers down.