Confirmation: More Proof of a Kennedy Curse?

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            John F. Kennedy, Jr. crashed his Piper Saratoga light aircraft as a result of poor flying conditions, killing him, his wife, and his sister-in-law.  Due to the poor weather conditions and his lack of piloting experience for such conditions at the time of the crash, JFK Jr. was in no position to fly the aircraft at that time.  On July 16, 1999, JFK Jr. crashed his aircraft into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard due to what the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) labels spatial disorientation – inability to correctly interpret aircraft attitude, altitude, or airspeed in relation to reference point after reference point has been lost; it’s when a pilot’s perception of direction doesn’t agree with reality.  At the time of the flight, the weather conditions were hazy, decreasing the visibility of the horizon line.  Also, JFK. Jr. had been flying the aircraft over water during the night; combine this with the decrease in visibility of the horizon line, it would’ve been difficult for him to tell the difference between the horizon line and the start of the water, causing him to lose his reference point. JFK Jr. was qualified to pilot the aircraft at night, however, as a private pilot he had no proper instrument rating, which is needed to fly during poor weather conditions when the pilot has no sense of the horizon line. The NTSB labeled the cause of the crash to be the pilot’s failure to maintain control during a descent over water: pilot’s error. It is possible the crash resulted from pilot’s error, but it is more likely that due to the hazy, unclear weather conditions and his lack of proper instrument rating, JFK Jr. lost sense of the horizon line and ultimately his reference point, causing him to fail to land the plane safely.

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