On this historic day, July 21, 1999, Navy divers recovered the bodies of John F. Kennedy Jr., 38, his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, 33, and her sister Lauren Bessette, 34, at approximately 10:30 a.m. in 116 feet of water in the Atlantic Ocean, about eight miles off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, following a plane crash, according to History.com.
After scouring the ocean floor for about 18 hours, the recovery team discovered Kennedy's body in the cabin.
The women's bodies were found among the twisted rubble, the source said.
All three were still strapped into their seats, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Richard Larrabee said at the time.
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“The bodies were pulled from the ocean floor at around 4:30 p.m.,” Larrabee said, the source said.
Autopsies concluded that all three passengers died on impact.
John Kennedy Jr. appears during a ceremony to present the John Kennedy Award. He was just 38 years old on July 21, 1999, when he died along with two passengers (his wife and sister-in-law) when the plane he was piloting crashed. The tragedy shocked the nation that summer. (Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma via Getty Images)
Researchers studying the wreck of Kennedy's Piper Saratoga found no problems with its mechanical or navigation systems, History.com reported.
“In its final report released in 2000, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the crash was caused by an inexperienced pilot who became disoriented in the darkness and lost control,” the source said.
“The accident was caused by an inexperienced pilot who became disoriented in the darkness and lost control.”
At the time, it was reported that one of Kennedy's instructors told the National Transportation Safety Board that he offered to accompany Kennedy on the flight the night of the crash, but that Kennedy declined and chose to fly alone.
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The report also indicated that fog likely obscured the horizon on the night of the flight, which likely caused Kennedy to become disoriented, according to The New York Times.
On July 16, 1999, Kennedy, his wife Carolyn, and his sister Lauren flew that night to Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, stopping in Martha's Vineyard to drop off Lauren Bessette.
From there, Kennedy and his wife were scheduled to continue to Kennedy's compound in Hyannis Harbor on Cape Cod to attend the wedding of Kennedy's cousin, Rory Kennedy, as reported by Biography.com.
John F. Kennedy Jr. with his mother Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis during a press conference at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. (VIN CATAANI/AFP via Getty Images)
Kennedy and Lauren Bessette, a vice president at Morgan Stanley, left Manhattan for Essex County Airport in New Jersey, where Kennedy's Piper Saratoga light jet was waiting shortly after 6:30 p.m.
Carolyn Bessette arrived separately shortly after 8 p.m., the source said.
The Federal Aviation Administration cleared the plane for takeoff at 8:38 p.m.
Kennedy checked in at the control tower on Martha's Vineyard, but after the plane failed to arrive on time he was reported missing, according to Biography.com.
On July 22, 1999, the cremated remains of the three were buried at sea during a ceremony on the USS Briscoe, a Navy destroyer.
It was not until the morning of July 21 that the three bodies were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean.
During the search and recovery mission, ships from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with sonar equipment were called in to work alongside other government assets deployed at the request of President Bill Clinton, the Cape Cod Times reported.
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The effort to recover the wreckage of a private plane flown by a private citizen is a testament to the deep symbolism and historical significance that many Americans attach to the Kennedy name, The Washington Post said.
“The effort has also raised questions about whether other private citizens would receive similar treatment,” the same source said.
On July 22, 1999, the cremated remains of the three were buried at sea during a ceremony on the USS Briscoe, a Navy destroyer, History.com said.
A private memorial service for Kennedy and his wife was held the following day on July 23 at St. Thomas More Church in Manhattan, where the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis worshipped, the source said.
President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton were present.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., the deceased's uncle, delivered a eulogy.
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“From the first day of his life, John seemed to belong not just to our family, but to the American family. He had a legacy and he learned to value it,” the senator said.
“He was part of a legend and he learned to live with it,” he is quoted as saying.
On July 24, friends and family remembered Lauren Bessette at a service in Greenwich, Connecticut, the Associated Press reported.
President John F. Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, and their sons — “John-John” is at far right, front — along with Robert F. Kennedy (far left) and other family members exit the U.S. Capitol after accompanying the president's casket to the rotunda in this Nov. 24, 1963, photograph by National Park Service photographer Abbie Rowe, obtained from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. (JFK Library/National Park Service/Abbie Rowe via Reuters))
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. was born on Nov. 25, 1960, just weeks after his father and namesake was elected the 35th president of the United States, History.com said.
On his third birthday, young “John-John” attended the funeral of his murdered father.
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He was famously photographed saluting his father's coffin in a heartbreaking image, the source said.
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After graduating from Brown University, JFK Jr. attended New York University School of Law.
In 1995 he founded the political magazine George.
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On September 21, 1996, Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette, a fashion publicist, were married in a private ceremony off the coast of Georgia on Cumberland Island.
