John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s Shocking Plane Crash
Getty ImagesJohn F. Kennedy Jr. salutes the casket of his father, the late President John F. Kennedy, on his third birthday.
From an early age, John F. Kennedy Jr. was all too familiar with the family deaths associated with the Kennedy curse. In one of the most infamous early images of him, three-year-old John, dressed in an old-fashioned smock, salutes his father’s coffin as he stands with his mother, sister, and uncle Robert in late 1963.
His mother resolved to protect her children from prying eyes as best she could, taking them to live in Greece when she married shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in 1968. Despite the tight seal of privacy placed around him and his sister Caroline by their mother, John was frequently sought out by the media even while at school.
John’s interests never seemed to settle in any one field. While studying at Brown University, he became involved in contemporary liberal politics and dabbled in acting, and later developed an interest in flying, taking lessons on piloting light aircraft.
Stephen Rose/Getty ImagesOnce proclaimed the “Sexiest Man Alive” by People Magazine, John F. Kennedy, Jr., seen here with his wife Carolyn, struggled to define himself apart from his father’s legacy.
The younger Kennedy replicated his father’s playboy lifestyle, pursuing relationships with celebrities like Cindy Crawford, Darryl Hannah, Brooke Shields, and Sarah Jessica Parker before marrying Carolyn Bessette, a high-powered executive for Calvin Klein.
Their marriage was highly publicized, which may have been a factor in the disputes they soon had with one another before attending marriage counseling.
With their marriage patched up, Kennedy decided to take his wife and her sister along with him while flying to a family wedding in Barnstable, Massachusetts on the night of July 16, 1999. John was only qualified to fly under daylight conditions and soon lost his way without the advantage of landmarks.
He crashed into the Atlantic off the coast of New Jersey, killing himself and his two passengers instantly. At 38, he was only eight years younger than his father had been at the time of his assassination — and the next in a long line of Kennedy deaths.
