Piper PA-32R-301 near VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts — 1999-07-17

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation. Factors in the accident were haze, and the dark night.

NTSB narrative

On the night of July 16, 1999, a Piper PA-32R-301 Saratoga II departed Essex County Airport in New Jersey bound for Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, with John F. Kennedy Jr. at the controls and two passengers aboard. The flight was conducted VFR at night over open water in hazy conditions with minimal moonlight. During descent approximately 34 miles from the destination, the pilot became spatially disoriented and the aircraft entered a graveyard spiral, descending at over 4,700 feet per minute before impacting the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Martha's Vineyard. All three occupants sustained fatal injuries and the aircraft was destroyed.

Evidence available

• ADS-B / radar
• Photos
• 103 docket documents

Docket documentsshowing 50 of 103

• ATC 3 - ATC Informationatc
• Aircraft Performance 13 - Attachment 1 - Chart 1 - Flight Path of N9253N based on New York Center ARSR data.form
• Aircraft Performance 13 - Attachment 1 - Chart 6 - Westchester County Airport ASR Dataform
• Aircraft Performance 13 - Attachment 2 - Wind Dataform
• Aircraft Performance 13 - Attachment 3 - Chart 1 - Input to Simulation 7/16/99form
• Aircraft Performance 13 - Attachment 3 - Chart 4 - Simulation Results 7/16/99form
• Aircraft Performance 13 - Attachment 3 - Chart 5 - Simulation Results 7/16/99form
• Aircraft Performance 13 - Attachment 3 - Chart 6 - View from South East, Looking North Westform
• Aircraft Performance 13 - Attachment 3 - Chart 7 - View from East of Wreckage Site, Looking Westform
• Aircraft Performance 13 - Attachment 3 - Chart 8 - View from South of Wreckage site, Looking Northform
• Airworthiness - Appendix C - Autopilot & GPS Informationform
• Cover Sheet for FOI99MA178, FOI99MA178X and FOI99MA178XX (Freedom of Information Data)form
• Release of Aircraft Wreckage, NTSB Form 6120.15form
• Statement of Party Representatives to NTSB Investigationinterview
• Airworthiness - Appendix B - Drawings of Structural Damageother
• Airworthiness - Appendix D - Maintenance Record Excerptsother
• Meteorology 5 - Attachment 1other
• Meteorology 5 - Attachment 1 (continued)other
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• Meteorology 5 - Attachment 1 - Chart (page 25)other
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• Meteorology 5 - Attachment 1 - Chart (page 74)other
• Meteorology 5 - Attachment 1 - Chart (page24)other
• Meteorology 5 - Attachment 1 - Chart 1Aother