Posted on 06/24/2007 5:40:42 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
John F. Kennedy Jr.'s last, terror-filled minutes were spent not knowing up from down, frantically pulling at his plane's controls in a panicked attempt to right its deadly spiral.
The fateful flight that should have carried him, his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, to a family wedding was doomed from the get-go by a late start, rapidly deterio rating weather conditions and disastrous decisions by a novice pilot, accord ing to Kennedy biogra pher C. David Heymann.
Heymann's book, "American Legacy: The Story of John and Caro line Kennedy," out June 26 from Atria Books, draws on new information from National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Association in vestigations.
It chronicles in devas tating detail the cou ple's final hours, includ ing the spat that drove John-John to sleep apart from his beautiful, blond wife the night be fore he died.
Not only was Kennedy suffering emotional ups and downs that day, he was still taking Vico din to relieve the pain of a recently broken ankle, plus Ritalin for attention-defi cit disorder and medica tion for a thy roid problem.
When his orthopedist removed his cast the previous day, he was cautioned not to pilot his plane until he could walk without a crutch. De spite those warnings - and a promise to his sister, Caroline Schlossberg, that he wouldn't fly alone - Kennedy turned down an offer to co-pilot on his evening journey up the coast, the book says.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Typical Kennedy ego.
Does anyone have anything on this guy to show that he was a “typical Kennedy”? Is there some reason need to speak ill of the dead who was also a private citizen?
Now I un derstand...
Were the drugs the reason he did not trust his instruments?
Read the full article. It appeared to demonstrate plenty of hubris.
Didn’t John-John hint at a run for the Senate in NY state in 2000?
How could any flight examiner have passed him for his pilot’s license? He certainly would have killed himself on a later trip had he made it ok on this one. I can’t imagine any pilot being dumb enough to turn off his radio after taking off in the New York area.
He DROVE to the airport impaired. He could have killed someone on the road.
Not surprising considering it took him three times to pass the bar. Junior was in over his head but no doubt RFK Jr. is consoled in the fact that he was driving a Hyundai on his last trip to Essex County.
It's called payback from bucking a Kennedy.
The story won’t come up for me. Was John John a dim bulb?
Don't get me wrong... I'm not cri ticizing your po sting skills one i ota.
The Post ran some editorials about him after his death. Some of them were kind tributes, but one was more memorable. The author noted that Kennedy’s actions were not smart at times and seemed to invite disaster. One action stood out. The author said that Kennedy made a habit of running down to the Hudson to rent a kayak when a thunderstorm was brewing on the river. This is a great way to get swamped, or struck by lightning, or run over by any of the dozens of boats that use the river even when visibility is down to nothing.
That’s not merely a stunt by a silly adrenaline junkie, it’s suicidal. Kennedy was a public figure because of his parentage. Maybe that’s unfair, but he did take two people with him when he went. And there was no reason for it, other than his belief that he could bs his way through a flight in bad conditions.
I immediately gained respect for THIS Kennedy when he was asked what the first thing he would do if he were elected President. His reply: “Cut taxes.”
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