Kennedy’s plane was scheduled to leave during 6 pm from Essex County Airport in N. J. Kennedy’s sister in law was delayed at work and the traffic pushed the flight back. because of circumstances they took off at 8:39 pm. On the night of the crash there was haze. It made it difficult for Kennedy to pilot the plane. The visibility was between 5 and 8 miles. Before he took off the visibility was said to have been between 4 to 10 miles.
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“According to the Weather Service International, Kennedy made two weather requests before taking off. All though Kennedy took off that night there was one pilot that opted to cancel a flight that night because of poor weather. When it came to flying Kennedy lacked flying experience for IFR (instrument flight rules). Kennedy had about 310 hours of experience which 55 hours were at night. In April 1998 he was given a private pilot license, and did not have an instrument rating. On Kennedy’s own plane he made 36 hours and 9. 4 hours were at night. He did not have much experience flying his plane at night. The last night that Kennedy had flown without a CFI was on May 28 1999.
Kennedy had 3 hours without CFI on board, and only 48 minutes was flown at night, which included just one night landing He could fly the airplane, but needed more training when it came down to performing other tasks without a visible horizon. Six weeks before the crash, Kennedy fractured his left ankle in a paragliding accident. He had surgery, wore a cast and walked with a cane up until the day of the accident. During interviews, Kennedy’s orthopedic surgeon stated that, by the time of the crash, he would have been able to apply the type of pressure that would normally be required to drive a car.
Kennedy had a noticeable limp the day of the accident. His certified flight instructor offered to go with him on the night of the flight and be some assistance. He did not feel comfortable about him piloting alone. Kennedy said, “He wanted to do it alone. ” The instructor knew it was going to be difficult for him to work the pedals because of his ankle injury. Kennedy lack experience with the instrument rating. The NTSB report, said that Kennedy need additional training experience in flying by instruments.
Instead of following the coastline with visible lights he decided to take a shorter route to Martha’s Vineyard which put them over the Atlantic Ocean. Making this decision made it harder for him to fly because the water blended and gave him no light. During the flight he did not request help. When examining through the wreckage his radios were not on the right frequencies. John was unable to save his life and his passengers due to failure to maintain control of his airplane. The NTBS report stated, A performance study of the radar data revealed that the target began a descent from 5,500 feet about 34 miles west of MVY.
The speed during the descent was calculated to be about 160 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS), and the rate of descent was calculated to have varied between 400 and 800 feet per minute (fpm). About 2138, the target began a right turn in a southerly direction. About 30 seconds later, the target stopped its descent at 2,200 feet and began a climb that lasted another 30 seconds. During this period of time, the target stopped the turn, and the airspeed decreased to about 153 KIAS. About 2139, the target leveled off at 2,500 feet and flew in a southeasterly direction. About 50 seconds later, the target entered a left turn and climbed to 2,600 feet.
As the target continued in the left turn, it began a descent that reached a rate of about 900 fpm. When the target reached an easterly direction, it stopped turning; its rate of descent remained about 900 fpm. At 2140:15, while still in the descent, the target entered a right turn. As the target’s turn rate increased, its descent rate and airspeed also increased. The target’s descent rate eventually exceeded 4,700 fpm. The target’s last radar position was recorded at 2140:34 at an altitude of 1,100 feet (Bunker & McCreary). If certain situations did not occur that night their lives would have been saved.
When you look back at all that happened that day it seems like maybe foul play was involved or that it was a suicide. It was reckless and not performing proper planning which caused them to not make it to their destination. Many mistakes were made by Kennedy, taking a later flight, Kennedy not accepting his instructor’s assistance, deciding to fly with his limited mobility and taking another route. At the end of the day all these situations that happened made it harder for him to control the plane which caused them to crash into the cold water the night of 16 July 1999 and ending their lives.
