what happened to carolyn bessette

Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999, along with her husband John F. Kennedy Jr. and her sister Lauren, when his small plane went down in the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’s Vineyard at night.

Quick Scoop: What happened

• Date of accident: July 16, 1999.

• Location: Atlantic Ocean off the western coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

• Who was on board: John F. Kennedy Jr. (pilot), Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her older sister Lauren Bessette.

• Outcome: All three died on impact; their bodies were later recovered from the ocean floor by Navy divers.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded the likely cause of the crash was John Jr.’s loss of control of the plane at night over water due to spatial disorientation, with haze and darkness listed as contributing factors.

Aftermath and later coverage

• Wreckage was found several days later; their bodies were recovered around July 21, 1999.

• Autopsies indicated they died upon impact, not from drowning.

• Carolyn was 33 years old; John was 38; Lauren was 34.

Even years later, documentaries, articles, and forum discussions still revisit what happened to Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, often focusing on the intense media attention during her life and the enduring fascination with the Kennedy family tragedy.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.