In the past, Kennedy dismissed any suggestion that his wife was frightened to fly with him. But friends of the couple said she usually preferred to drive to Cape Cod and take the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. Kennedy had made his last public appearance the night before, sitting in the crowd at Yankee Stadium, wearing a white dress shirt with an open collar, watching the Atlanta Braves beat the Yankees, 6-2. Neighbors and shopkeepers at the Fourth Estate newspaper stand on Hudson Street and the Hudson Market grocery store also recalled seeing him earlier that day, hobbling around with a cast on his left foot and using crutches. At this point, no one can say if Kennedy's injury may have impaired his ability to fly the plane.
Experienced pilots disagree on the point.
But it's known that on Monday of last week, Kennedy acknowledged that he did not feel comfortable flying without a co-pilot because of his broken foot, according to Keith Stein, a businessman who met Kennedy after he flew into Buttonville Airport at Markham, Ontario, close to Toronto. Stein said he begged off, citing other commitments. That Bessette, Carolyn's older sister, was strapped for time was not unusual given her demanding job as a vice president in the investment banking group at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, friends and business associates said. Bessette, a specialist in Asia who worked in Hong Kong before coming to New York, was part of a unit at the firm that advised corporate clients on financial matters. Bankers say her life was hectic.