Autopsies revealed that John Kennedy, his wife and sister-in-law died instantly when their plane plunged into the water off Martha’s Vineyard – but the cause of the crash may remain a mystery for months.
The four-hour, state-mandated autopsies found that Kennedy, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Lauren Bessette died from “multiple traumatic injuries,” not drowning, Barnstable County District Attorney Phil Rollins said yesterday.
Authorities said Kennedy’s body was found in the cockpit of the single-engine plane and the women were found elsewhere in the wreckage. All three were strapped to their seats.
But despite finding a large piece of the plane’s fuselage, the National Transportation Safety Board provided few clues to what caused Kennedy to veer off course last Friday night in the final moments of his approach to the Martha Vineyard’s airport.
Navy salvage divers will continue to pull wreckage from the ocean bottom seven miles from shore, and NTSB investigators will study the findings at a Coast Guard station on Cape Cod.
NTSB Chairman Jim Hill said after the bodies were retrieved Wednesday there would be no further comment from his agency on the crash “until all memorial services and remembrances are completed.”
Even then, the NTSB report is not expected for at least six months, Hall said.
Officials disclosed that the plane’s instrument panel was recovered but heavily damaged by the impact of hitting the water at high speed.
It was not known whether the impact froze the instrument dials, as sometimes happens in crashes.
That could provide investigators with valuable information about the final instrument readings and the condition of landing gear at the time of the crash.
But the radar data that helped locate the wreckage is also fueling speculation from aviation experts that pilot error was the most likely cause of the crash.
Some pilots said the NTSB should investigate whether Kennedy violated an FAA rule barring someone from flying when he is “unfit to safely perform his duties as a pilot.”
Kennedy had not completely recovered from a broken foot, was wearing an ankle cast and foot pad and was seen limping.
“I wouldn’t fly right after breaking my leg. You don’t see pilots limping around an airport,” said Cecile Hatfield, president of the American Lawyer-Pilots Association.
Hatfield, a licensed pilot for 30 years as well as an aviation lawyer, said it’s important to have fit feet to maneuver the rudders to make turns.
An aviation doctor agreed.
“If a person is limping and has a partial cast, I suggest they hold off on flying until they’re essentially fully recovered,” said Dr. Stanley Mohler, director of aerospace medicine at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and former FAA medical examiner.
“You’re talking about a serious condition. You got to have feet,” he said.