The final report on Kennedy's crash reveals a series of decisions that led him on a spiral crash course one year ago. Ten days before the anniversary of his death, the National Transportation Safety Board released the results of its exhaustive investigation into the fatal plane crash of John F. Kennedy Jr. Not surprisingly, the NTSB concluded the fault was pilot error. The report's glib summary makes the crash sound like an easily preventable accident. Having speculated about what might have led to the crash a year ago, I approached the NTSB's exhaustively researched report with more than average curiosity.
Spatial disorientation is aviation's top pilot-killer.
With little warning, it can strike any pilot, who must then draw on tremendous confidence and training in order to survive. As a pilot without much flight time, Kennedy hadn't yet built up either. He made a few questionable decisions. If he had, he would have learned simply that visibility along the route was quite good between 6 and 12 miles. According to detailed weather information from the surrounding areas at the time of the accident, and reports handed out by Flight Service weather briefers, the haze wasn't expected to be treacherous.