Martha Stewart Warned JFK Jr. About Flying Solo Before His Fatal Flight
The renewed interest in John F. Kennedy Jr. and the tragic trajectory that his life eventually took didn’t end with American Love Story. Martha Stewart herself has reignited interest in JFK Jr., particularly on the ill-fated flight to Martha’s Vineyard that killed him, his wife, and his sister-in-law, during a recent TV appearance. During her cameo on The Real Housewives of New York City, Stewart revealed that she warned the younger Kennedy against flying without a co-pilot.
Martha Stewart remembers warning JFK Jr. not to fly on his own
Martha Stewart and the Kennedys have been connected for decades, running in the same high-powered media circles. Stewart, however, opened up about the grave warning she gave JFK Jr. just days before his death, and how their final conversation has continued to haunt her.
During a recent cameo on The Real Housewives of New York City, Stewart revealed that she grabbed dinner with JFK Jr. in July 1999 to discuss his struggling magazine and what he could possibly do to turn it around. Stewart told Daisy Toye that the dinner was at JFK Jr.’s urging.
She went on to say they had a lovely dinner. Then their shop talk turned to weekend plans. She said she asked him what he had planned for the coming week, to which he revealed he was flying out for his cousin’s wedding. When he revealed he would be flying himself to the event, Stewart inquired about a co-pilot. Stewart recalled JFK Jr. insisting he didn’t need a co-pilot, to which she urged him to get one. He did not.
Stewart went on to say that her last conversation with JFK Jr. and everything that happened after made her sad.
JFK Jr.’s ill-fated flight took off just days later
Martha Stewart’s warning was not just a random comment. Her urging to JFK Jr. took place mere days before his life would end. Stewart had dinner with JFK Jr. just four days before his Piper Saratoga plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean.
JFK Jr., along with Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and her sister, Lauren Bessette, left Essex County Airport in Caldwell, New Jersey on July 16, 1999. The plan was to drop Lauren off in Martha’s Vineyard before he and Carolyn traveled on to Hyannis Port for his cousin’s wedding. The trio never arrived in Martha’s Vineyard.
A mass search for the plane and the three passengers was launched in the early morning hours of July 17. JFK Jr. was expected to arrive sometime around 10 p.m. the night before. The wreckage and the bodies of all three victims were recovered from the ocean floor near Martha’s Vineyard two days after the plane went missing.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation, JFK Jr. likely became spatially disoriented while flying in low-visibility conditions over the open ocean at night and flew into the ocean. JFK Jr. did not have an instrument rating and was flying by sight when the accident took place.
All three victims were cremated and buried at sea. JFK Jr. was 38 at the time of his death. His wife, Carolyn, was 33. Her sister, Lauren, was 34.
