John F. Kennedy, Jr., maintained radio silence throughout the entire flight to Martha’s Vineyard on July 16, 1999. His last words to his passengers—his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister Lauren Bessette—are unknown. Just before the flight’s takeoff, however, he had a standard exchange with an air-traffic controller about flight clearance. According to a report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board, the tower controller asked Kennedy whether he was heading toward Teterboro, New Jersey. Kennedy answered, “No, sir, I’m, uh, actually I’m heading a little, uh, north of it, uh, eastbound.” After the tower controller instructed Kennedy to “make it a right downwind departure then,” Kennedy responded, “Right downwind departure two two.” Those were his final recorded words.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.
Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style