On July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr. died when the light aircraft he was flying crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Kennedy's wife Carolyn Bessette and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette were also on board and died. The Piper Saratoga departed from New Jersey's Essex County Airport; its intended route was along the coastline of Connecticut and across Rhode Island Sound to Martha's Vineyard Airport.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr., often referred to as John-John or JFK Jr., was an American attorney, journalist, and magazine publisher. He was a son of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and a younger brother of U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy. Three days after his father was assassinated, he rendered a final salute during the funeral procession on his third birthday.