John F. Kennedy Jr.’s body was discovered 116 feet below the Atlantic Ocean, just as search leaders were contemplating wrapping up their extensive operation, according to the mission commander.
Following the disappearance of Kennedy’s plane on July 16, 1999, the U.S. government initiated one of the largest maritime searches ever conducted for private citizens.
By the fourth day of an increasingly draining search for Kennedy, his wife Carolyn Bessette, and her sister Lauren, officials were beginning to strategize about how to conclude the operation.
However, amid these discussions, advanced sonar equipment managed to locate Kennedy’s body on the seafloor, remarkably only about 10 feet away from the wreckage that held the sisters’ bodies.
The discovery was made roughly seven miles off Martha’s Vineyard’s southwest coast.
“There was a concern that, had another day passed, with the current at 1.6 knots, he could have been swept away,” said Coast Guard Capt. W. Russell “Russ” Webster, who led the search effort.
His wife, maritime historian Theresa Mitchell Webster, remarked, “They might have never found him had another day gone by.”
The Websters co-authored “The Last Flight: The Untold Story of the Search for JFK Jr. and the Race Against the Atlantic,” detailing how sonar technology and a video camera helped in locating Kennedy.
On the following day, five days after the crash of the Saratoga II, where Kennedy, 38, was at the controls in heavy fog, divers retrieved all three bodies.
Carolyn, 33, and Lauren, 34, were only identifiable due to their differing hair colors.
“The NTSB forensic anthropologist informed us that the girls were not facially recognizable,” Theresa noted.
The trio was traveling from Caldwell, New Jersey, to Martha’s Vineyard, attending Kennedy’s cousin Rory’s wedding.
Russell explained that Kennedy was operating under visual flight rules, meaning the FAA was not monitoring his flight. He felt confident navigating using visual landmarks since he had flown the route from New Jersey to Martha’s Vineyard more than 30 times.
Kennedy depended exclusively on visual cues, having not yet completed his instrument training, with only 12 out of 25 modules completed toward his flight instructor certification.
“On July 1st, just 15 days before his flight, one of his certified flight instructors cautioned him, saying, ‘John, you’re not ready for this. You need more experience with instruments,’” Russell shared, noting his 26 years of service in the Coast Guard.
Kennedy’s lack of instrument flying experience may have severely compromised his flight capabilities in poor visibility, potentially leading to spatial disorientation.
A report from the National Transportation Safety Board indicated that the aircraft descended at about 4,700 feet per minute.
“Hitting water at that speed [near 60 mph] from that height is basically like hitting concrete,” Russell explained.
Rescue teams hurried to recover the bodies, the wreckage, and personal belongings before they could be disturbed by marine life or other scavengers.
Russell, who has participated in approximately 10,000 missions throughout his career, approximated the cost of the operation—which covered 100 nautical miles from Cape Cod to Long Island and involved thousands of personnel from 28 state and federal agencies—at around $5 million.
The Websters spent 15 years researching and writing “The Last Flight,” conducting nearly 45 interviews.
“A significant factor in finally publishing this book was the fact that many individuals who had previously declined to participate in the discussion were now retired and willing to share their reflections,” Russell explained.
Theresa’s friend, Maria Hooton, whose husband was close to Kennedy’s uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy, was at the senator’s residence the day after the plane went missing.
“She mentioned seeing John’s suit in the laundry room, pressed and ready for the trip,” Theresa recounted.
During the search, the Coast Guard received several unusual calls from individuals who believed the missing trio was still alive.
“One claimed JFK Jr. was interacting in an AOL chat room. I think people were grasping at straws,” Russell said.
The Coast Guard also received a fax from an unnamed spiritual organization in New York City declaring the three deceased based on their analysis of “magnetic auras.”
“I remember that distinctly because it was the very first communication we received on Sunday when the Unified Command Post was set up. It felt so bizarre,” Russell expressed.
