Ten Most Tragic Celebrity Air Accidents

http://jets.halogenguides.com ^ | 06/20/2008 | Alec Rosekrans

[Maelstorm]

5. John F. Kennedy, Jr.- July 16, 1999 Jfk2 John F. Kennedy, Jr., son of the 35th president, died along with his wife Carolyn Bessette when their plane crashed into the Atlantic en route to Martha’s Vineyard. Kennedy was piloting his Pipier Saratoga II HP on a dark and hazy night when the crash occurred. It is believed that Kennedy, who had not yet been qualified for instrument flight rules conditions, was likely disoriented by the conditions.

[Maelstorm]

A bit of history.

[theDentist]

He just wanted to make a splash in the press.

[Red Badger]

A Pipier?..............

[Da Coyote]

Giving a Kennedy controls of anything technical - even skiis, is not a good thing.

[Red Badger]

Kennedys and water don’t mix..............

[rottndog]

I wouldn’t refer to JFK Jr. as tragic...it was monumental stupidity on his part, and Darwin at work. Nothing tragic about it.

[Red Badger]

Snow is just another form of water...............

[politicalwit]

Giving a Kennedy controls of anything technical - even skiis, is not a good thing.

...or an Oldsmobile!!!

[Diogenesis]

Actually, he wanted to be Sen. from New York, but got in Hillary’s way.

[princess leah]

I think that Payne Stewart’s plane went down back in what 2002? Also Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash correct?

[Puppage]

John Denver as well.

[Rev DMV]

That was the day I went to pick up my 172. My then pregnant wife had to spend the day waiting for me to call her, while listening to news reports about him.

Needless to say she was a bit out of sorts by the time I got home.

[allmendream]

My comment upon hearing about the JFK JR. plane crash was...

“That is the last time a woman travels with a Kennedy over water.”

By buddy Steve said...

“I remember back when the Kennedy's used to drown their women one at a time.”

[Larry Lucido]

I would move John Denver to #8, and let Kennedy and Wellstone duke it out for 9 and 10.

[DManA]

7. Paul Wellstone – October 25, 1999 - Killed by George W Hitler(according to leftwing nut jobs)

[rottndog]

Correct on both.

Payne Stewarts plane had a mechanical failure which deprived the cabin of oxygen. The plane flew until it ran out of gas and crashed.

Don’t know the circumstances about Roberto Clemente...but the real tragedy their is that he undoubtedly would have been one of the greatest baseball players EVER.

[johnny7]

Kennedys and water don’t mix.............

Yup... either with ice... or neat.

[Maelstorm]

The Ever So Timely Death of JFK Jr.

(November 25, 1960 – July 16, 1999)

There are coincidences and then there are coincidences. On July 16, 1999, at the age of 38, John F. Kennedy Jr. was killed along with his wife and his sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette, when the aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. There were stories that he was considering running for the open seat of Senator Patrick Moynihan a seat that Hillary Rodham Clinton also planned to run for. He was the perfect young attractive candidate with the star power that no one else possessed. That his running would've ruined the plans of Clinton is without question. While accidents do happen and most conspiracies are without merit and the product of loose facts strung together with bubble gum and wishful thinking as we approach the anniversary of this horrible event I think it is worth a second look at the events surrounding JFK Jr's very politically timely death.

Consider the following for yourself:

PROPAGANDA: JFK Jr. was lost and could not find his way.

FACT: When JFK Jr. radioed controllers on the Cape (as reported on Boston TV News) to announce his approach to Martha's Vineyard, radar showed him to be just where he stated he was and at the correct altitude for the approach.

PROPAGANDA: JK Jr. was in "over his head".

FACT: JFK Jr's conversational tone on the radio reveals that he was calm. He was not disoriented. He didn't ask for directions. He didn't indicate he had any problem at all. He clearly was confident he was going to find the airport and land.

PROPAGANDA: JFK Jr. stalled the plane.

FACT: The radar track shows that he was well above stall speed.

PROPAGANDA: JFK Jr. went into a steep turn and lost hi horizon.

FACT: There is no reason for JFK Jr. to have been in any turn at all at that point on the flight path leading into the airport. He was already lined up with the main runway at Martha's Vineyard airport.

PROPAGANDA: JFK Jr. didn't know his altitude and simply "flew into the ocean".

FACT: The radar track shows him flying at the proper altitude, then (as ABC News put it) "falling out of the sky".

PROPAGANDA: JFK Jr. lost his instruments, and that is why he could not handle the dark and hazy (?) conditions

FACT: The fact that the radar was getting good data from his encoding altimeter proves his instruments were operating.

PROPAGANDA: JFK Jr. would have lost his artificial horizon if the vacuum pump failed in the aircraft.

FACT: MSNBC is the only media outlet to have tried to hype this one, using a self-proclaimed "aviation expert". His claim is also false, as there is a backup vacuum system in the pitot assembly of that aircraft.

PROPAGANDA JFK Jr. was a reckless pilot.

FACT: This claim was planted everywhere in the media, always attributed to an "unnamed source". One reporter, Cindy Adams at the New York Post, later had cause to suspect she had been lied to. So did Andrew Goldman at the New York Observer. Interviews with individuals directly familier with JFK Jr's flying ability shown on Inside Edition confirmed that he was a highly skilled and careful pilot.

PROPAGANDA JFK Jr's wife was afraid to fly with him.

FACT: Again a story attributed to "unnamed sources", and again debunked by the interviews shown on Inside Edition. JFK Jr's wife had no problem flying with JFK Jr. and flew with him often.

PROPAGANDA JFK Jr. had only 40 hours experience.

FACT: He had 40 hours in that one aircraft. His total experience was about 300 hours, more than enough to qualify him for a commercial pilot's license. According to FAA statistics, 300 hours made him a more careful and safer pilot than one with 1000 hours, who is more complacent.

PROPAGANDA The weather was very hazy.

FACT: The FAA issued VFR weather conditions that night, and the weather report (mentioned in the UPI story) called for 8 mile visibility. One witness on shore reported that there was very little haze and that standing on the shore, he could see airplanes out over the ocean on approach to the island, proof that airplanes on the approach could see the shore. This claim is backed up not only by the weather report of 8 mile visibility, but by a weather radar image taken at about the time of the crash. This radar image is showing haze and fog along New York and Long Island (if this radar image were of clouds, the FAA would not have declared VFR flying conditions that night) but none at all at Martha's Vineyard.

ON the morning after the crash, CNN reported that weather could be ruled out as a factor in the crash!

PROPAGANDA: Martha's Vineyard is very dark and won't show through the haze.

FACT: That may have been true only a few months ago. However, as evidenced by a Letter to the Editor of the Martha's Vineyard Times just days after the JFK Jr. crash, new lights installed on the island, lights that point up in the sky, are so bright they are drawing complaints from island residents.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

No offense to you Maelstorm but that’s the silliest headline I’ve seen in a long time. Almost sounds like a David Letterman bit.

[Moose4]

I somehow don’t think that Payne Stewart’s plane was trailed by “bemused” F-16s as it flew across the Midwest out of control. More likely, the fighter pilots knew they were watching somebody die. That’s a cheap shot at the Air Force IMO.

}:-)4