John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. Accident Analysis: A Preventable National Tragedy
Ken D. Kent
Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University
Abstract
This paper discussed and analyzed the events that took place leading up to the tragic accident of John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette and sister-in-law Lauren on July 16th, 1999. All of the events that led up to this accident could have been prevented and this paper will outline the error chain, and hopefully will provide insight to prevent a similar accident from happening in the future. We will look at the human and operational factors that were reported by the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) on the flight from Caldwell, New Jersey with a stop off at Martha’s Vineyard airport to drop off his sister-in-law with a final stop in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The trip was supposed to be a joyous occasion for a wedding at the Hyannis Port Compound for a wedding for his sister Rory Kennedy. The numerous deficiencies in the decision making process are quite clear after the accident but at the time Kennedy must have felt confident in his abilities to accomplish safe flight. This paper discussed the chain of events that led up to the accident that took the life of John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife and sister-in-law.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. Accident Analysis: A Preventable National Tragedy
Accident Error Chain
This paper will identify the major probable causes to the John F. Kennedy Jr. airplane accident that took the lives of 3 Kennedy family members located off Martha’s Vineyard on July 16th, 1999. It will include the human and operational factors described in the accident chain of events that led up to the accident. Kennedy made more than a few poor decisions in preparation for and during his ill-fated flight. But was there anything that he could have done to prevent this accident from happening? The answer is yes and the purpose of this paper is to help operators identify causative factors...
