JFK Jr. died because he was looking at the NY Senate seat that was promised to a certain lesbian former First Lady.
I always felt very bad for his In-Laws. They lost two daughters because of him.
Why did he crash? He was a Kennedy. He was the golden boy. He thought he was invincible. And he decided to fly beyond his abilities and killed himself and two others as a result.
I believe that this was a case where privilege led to hubris which led to being the legendary ‘bold pilot’ who exceeded his competency. I cannot help but wonder if he might have survived if he was alone in the aircraft where he could pull himself out without embarrassment. Ego can get in the way of logic and being able to say “I’m in trouble!”
Kennedy’s can’t fly or drive over bridges at night.
Yep. Had he known how to fly instruments he’d be alive. With all his money, he didn’t bother to get IFR rated, and he paid for it.
I’ve had many moments when my senses told me that I was in a bank, dive, climb, etc., but flying the instruments kept me alive.
And its not just flying the attitude ball, its knowing what makes sense and what doesn’t. e.g. IAS shouldn’t be dropping or increasing in level flight under constant power.
JFK jr was a hack pilot who tried to sneak by with minimal skills. It didn’t work.
Good piece. I once had a magnetic screwdriver placed in a teak cup holder, which in turn was in front of a compass. I was literally driven mad in the early morning hours of a certain day on a certain approach in a certain sea, and asked a crew-mate to in effect evaluate me psychologically. He looked at the compass for awhile, checked under the binnacle and found the screwdriver. He still teases me about that. I miss Kenny Bunk on threads like this!
Ninety percent of his flight was safely complete. But he decided to take a small shortcut over water at the end, rather than stay over the coastline. The shortcut probably would have saved him five minutes at the most.
He was flying in IMC or near IMC conditions but he was not ontrument rated.
Yup. I’m a 20-year military aviator. All helicopter time so admittedly not a ton of IMC time. I’ll tell you one thing, I learned a healthy respect for the weather after icing almost killed me a couple times. This guy was a rich asshole who bought a plane, logged a few hours and thought he was an expert. Very common to the Kennedy Clan - the asshole gene.
Good synopsis. JFK jr. should have been flying IFR but was not instrument rated as far as I know and was a low hour amateur pilot. Poor judgment coupled with poor flying skills and weather got himself killed as well as 2 other people.
My ex boyfriend and I made the mistake of coming in VFR once in a rainstorm and he’s a good pilot and instrument rated. We were so close to the airport and we just wanted to get home so we took the chance and the weather closed down on us. It was pretty hairy for a few minutes but we got down and kissed the ground. We should have turned around and gone out about 30 miles and shot an instrument approach. We made a pact never ever again. That was one of the stupidest things we ever did. Really stupid.
Women Killed by a Kennedy
Honorable Mention (Didn't quite kill the victim)
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Kennedys - Can’t Fly, Can’t Drive, Can’t Ski, Can’t Skipper a Boat.....but they know what’s best for us.
James Doolittle, in his autobiography, wrote about this phenomenon, and said the Lindberg had nearly crashed because of it. It’s one of the things that led to Doolittle’s pursuit of instrumentation and aeronautical engineering... that no one was immune.