munkle
Diamond Member
- Dec 18, 2012
- 5,546
- 9,666
- 2,130
The difference between the JFK and the Junior files is the Junior perps might still be alive.
On July 16, 1999 President John F. Kennedy's oldest son, John F. Kennedy Jr., died in a small plane crash which was reportedly due to bad weather, hazy flying conditions, and John Jr's. poor flying skills. But Martha's Vineyard weather radar archives for that night show the exact opposite: clear visibility for nine miles and calm skies. Furthermore, despite the media narrative at the time, based on anonymous sources, that Kennedy was a reckless pilot, interviews of his instructors in the official National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report show he was anything but. Kennedy always flew with an instructor whenever possible, and was called an "excellent" pilot for his level of experience who was "cautious" in his aviation decisions.
But perhaps the most egregious falsehood pertaining to that night was that Kennedy lost contact, or declined to contact any traffic control tower after take-off in NJ. In fact, as reported by US Coastguard press liaison Senior Petty Officer Todd Burgun to Boston WCVB in the following days, Kennedy had radioed the Martha's Vineyard tower ten minutes before he was to land, and informed them calmly that he saw the runway lights and was on his final approach.
The point is critical. The official NTSB report on the crash concludes that the primary reason for JFK Jr.'s plane suddenly taking a vertical nose dive into the ocean at 200 MPH is that Kennedy was spatially disoriented, a well-known hazard in aviation when weather is bad or cloud cover is deceptive to the senses. Without a firm reference point, the pilot thinks he is flying level when he is not.
But if it is proven that JFK Jr. was within sight of the runway lights, which at ten miles out he certainly was, and trimming speed and altitude for landing, the entire story falls apart. The complete omission of Senior Petty Officer Todd Burgun's critical report from the NTBS investigation is perhaps even more damning than the testimony itself.
As shockingly, a report of an explosion in the sky reported in the New York Daily News at the exact time that Kennedy's plane disappeared from radar is not in the NTSB report, nor is a Boston WCVB report of a "white flash" in the sky called in by a Vineyard Gazette reporter.
Below: Weather radar over Martha's Vineyard on July 16, 1999, 9:30 pm, Martha's Vineyard circled in red. Source: Weather.US
Martha's Vineyard circled in red
In 1991, Stone had released his blockbuster docudrama JFK, based on the true story of New Orleans prosecutor Jim Garrison - played by Kevin Costner - and his quest to prove that the president could not have been killed by lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald.
George was JFK Junior's start-up magazine concept to initiate more serious political dialogue than he believed could be found in mainstream media publications.
In the piece, Stone said of JFK's murder:
In the article, Stone asks:
Cover of JFK Junior's George Magazine featuring Oliver Stone piece
With the publication of the Stone article in George, John-John began to give hints on his views, at a time when it was rumored that he was ready to enter politics at the age of 38.
In 2000, with the retirement of U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan from the Senate, Moynihan's seat became open and it was rumored that John-John would run, possibly to soon be followed by a run for president.
The circumstances surrounding John-John's death remain shrouded in mystery.
The widely-circulated notion that John-John was an underqualified pilot for the flying conditions in which his plane went down has been shown to be patently false. He was qualified for visual day or night-time flying in visibility of no less than four miles. Visibility was nine miles that night. Kennedy had accumulated over 300 hours of flying time, enough to qualify for a commercial pilot's license.
Another common misconception is that the skies were "hazy" over Martha's Vineyard, but in fact, the skies were clear, as can be seen in the weather service radar for that night. The online weather conditions archive Weather.US shows that visibility was a clear nine miles. There was a waxing crescent moon.
Radar, weather reports, and extensive witness testimony corroborate that the skies were clear and flying conditions excellent around Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard that night. The idea that the skies were hazy only began to filter into media stories later, mostly from anonymous sources. The Martha's Vineyard airport was well-lit with new landing assistance lights, which were so bright that residents complained, according to a Letter to the Editor of the Martha's Vineyard Times.
Kennedy had already spotted the airport lights, radioed the tower at 9:39 pm, and had begun his final approach when the plane went down in a precipitous dive, losing 1200 feet of altitude in 12 seconds, according to FAA radar analysis. Radar shows Kennedy about ten miles out from the airport, from where the airport and runway lights would already be visible.
However, the official NTSB report states that Kennedy had made no contact at all with air traffic control, to any airport, since takeoff. This is flatly contradicted by a WCVB-Boston interview with Coast Guard Senior Petty Officer Todd Burgun, who revealed that Kennedy radioed the Martha's Vineyard tower just seconds before the crash, informing them of his final approach. This flat-out contradiction was also reported by UPI.
The NTSB report (via Salon.com) reads:
In addition, never mentioned inthe NTSB report, a reporter for the Vineyard Gazette newspaper told Boston's WCVB-TV that he was out walking about the time of the crash and saw a "big white flash in the sky" off Philbin Beach.
Also killed in the crash were JFK Jr.'s wife Caroline Bessette, their unborn child, and Caroline's sister Lauren.
Never mentioned in the NTBS report is the testimony of a Pennsylvania lawyer, Victor Pribanic, who said he heard an explosion in the precise direction of where the plane went down as he fished for bass at night.
The New York Daily News reported in "ANGLER MAY HAVE HEARD CRASH":
An NTSB memorandum of an interview with one of Kennedy's flight instructors reads:
None of these descriptions made it into major media reports, which immediately began reporting many anonymous sources as saying Kennedy took unnecessary risks and was a bad pilot.
Of great interest is the report of a flight instructor who claimed that he offered to co-pilot JFK Jr. on the fateful night, but that JFK said he wanted to "do it alone." What is of interest is that the instructor, Robert Merena, whose testimony is a key part of the narrative, did not come forward until six months later, on January 27, 2000. Why would one of the last people to see JFK Jr. alive, in such a critical position, wait so long?
Moreover, the story seems to contradict Kennedy's normal behavior, of hiring flying instructors to accompany him whenever he could. The website of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association noted:
On July 16, 1999 President John F. Kennedy's oldest son, John F. Kennedy Jr., died in a small plane crash which was reportedly due to bad weather, hazy flying conditions, and John Jr's. poor flying skills. But Martha's Vineyard weather radar archives for that night show the exact opposite: clear visibility for nine miles and calm skies. Furthermore, despite the media narrative at the time, based on anonymous sources, that Kennedy was a reckless pilot, interviews of his instructors in the official National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report show he was anything but. Kennedy always flew with an instructor whenever possible, and was called an "excellent" pilot for his level of experience who was "cautious" in his aviation decisions.
But perhaps the most egregious falsehood pertaining to that night was that Kennedy lost contact, or declined to contact any traffic control tower after take-off in NJ. In fact, as reported by US Coastguard press liaison Senior Petty Officer Todd Burgun to Boston WCVB in the following days, Kennedy had radioed the Martha's Vineyard tower ten minutes before he was to land, and informed them calmly that he saw the runway lights and was on his final approach.
The point is critical. The official NTSB report on the crash concludes that the primary reason for JFK Jr.'s plane suddenly taking a vertical nose dive into the ocean at 200 MPH is that Kennedy was spatially disoriented, a well-known hazard in aviation when weather is bad or cloud cover is deceptive to the senses. Without a firm reference point, the pilot thinks he is flying level when he is not.
But if it is proven that JFK Jr. was within sight of the runway lights, which at ten miles out he certainly was, and trimming speed and altitude for landing, the entire story falls apart. The complete omission of Senior Petty Officer Todd Burgun's critical report from the NTBS investigation is perhaps even more damning than the testimony itself.
As shockingly, a report of an explosion in the sky reported in the New York Daily News at the exact time that Kennedy's plane disappeared from radar is not in the NTSB report, nor is a Boston WCVB report of a "white flash" in the sky called in by a Vineyard Gazette reporter.
WCVB Boston reports that JFK Jr. DID make radio contact with Martha's Vineyard Tower Informing of Final Approach, Contrary to NTSB report
Below: Weather radar over Martha's Vineyard on July 16, 1999, 9:30 pm, Martha's Vineyard circled in red. Source: Weather.US
Martha's Vineyard circled in red
John-John Never Bought the Official Story of the Assassination of His Father
In 1998, Kennedy Jr., affectionately known as John-John, published an article by "conspiracy theorist" Oliver Stone in his new magazine George.In 1991, Stone had released his blockbuster docudrama JFK, based on the true story of New Orleans prosecutor Jim Garrison - played by Kevin Costner - and his quest to prove that the president could not have been killed by lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald.
George was JFK Junior's start-up magazine concept to initiate more serious political dialogue than he believed could be found in mainstream media publications.
In the piece, Stone said of JFK's murder:
Stone argues in the article, entitled "Our Counterfeit History," that conspiracies are part of human nature, society, and history. He argues that even if two children gang up against a third, it is technically a conspiracy.
In the article, Stone asks:
Cover of JFK Junior's George Magazine featuring Oliver Stone piece
JFK Jr.'s Death
Stone has never backed off of his film's premise that JFK was murdered by a cabal of CIA and U.S. military-complex-connected agents outside the normal chain of command in the U.S. government. JFK Jr. had never endorsed the Warren Commission's conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted as a lone gunman.With the publication of the Stone article in George, John-John began to give hints on his views, at a time when it was rumored that he was ready to enter politics at the age of 38.
In 2000, with the retirement of U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan from the Senate, Moynihan's seat became open and it was rumored that John-John would run, possibly to soon be followed by a run for president.
The circumstances surrounding John-John's death remain shrouded in mystery.
The widely-circulated notion that John-John was an underqualified pilot for the flying conditions in which his plane went down has been shown to be patently false. He was qualified for visual day or night-time flying in visibility of no less than four miles. Visibility was nine miles that night. Kennedy had accumulated over 300 hours of flying time, enough to qualify for a commercial pilot's license.
Another common misconception is that the skies were "hazy" over Martha's Vineyard, but in fact, the skies were clear, as can be seen in the weather service radar for that night. The online weather conditions archive Weather.US shows that visibility was a clear nine miles. There was a waxing crescent moon.
Radar, weather reports, and extensive witness testimony corroborate that the skies were clear and flying conditions excellent around Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard that night. The idea that the skies were hazy only began to filter into media stories later, mostly from anonymous sources. The Martha's Vineyard airport was well-lit with new landing assistance lights, which were so bright that residents complained, according to a Letter to the Editor of the Martha's Vineyard Times.
Kennedy had already spotted the airport lights, radioed the tower at 9:39 pm, and had begun his final approach when the plane went down in a precipitous dive, losing 1200 feet of altitude in 12 seconds, according to FAA radar analysis. Radar shows Kennedy about ten miles out from the airport, from where the airport and runway lights would already be visible.
However, the official NTSB report states that Kennedy had made no contact at all with air traffic control, to any airport, since takeoff. This is flatly contradicted by a WCVB-Boston interview with Coast Guard Senior Petty Officer Todd Burgun, who revealed that Kennedy radioed the Martha's Vineyard tower just seconds before the crash, informing them of his final approach. This flat-out contradiction was also reported by UPI.
The NTSB report (via Salon.com) reads:
Having the Martha's Vineyard Airport landing lights in sight and beginning the final approach would be very inconsistent with being disoriented, and suddenly plunging your plane into the sea.
In addition, never mentioned inthe NTSB report, a reporter for the Vineyard Gazette newspaper told Boston's WCVB-TV that he was out walking about the time of the crash and saw a "big white flash in the sky" off Philbin Beach.
Also killed in the crash were JFK Jr.'s wife Caroline Bessette, their unborn child, and Caroline's sister Lauren.
Never mentioned in the NTBS report is the testimony of a Pennsylvania lawyer, Victor Pribanic, who said he heard an explosion in the precise direction of where the plane went down as he fished for bass at night.
The New York Daily News reported in "ANGLER MAY HAVE HEARD CRASH":
Neither the fisherman's witness of an "explosion" or the call to the Vineyard Gazette describing a "white flash" are mentioned in the official NTSB report.
JFK Jr. Was a Cautious Pilot, Instructor Who Says JFK Jr. Turned Down Co-Pilot Waited Six Months to Surface
The overarching theme of the official media narrative is that JFK Jr. was a reckless flyer who took too many chances, but actual instructor evaluations contradict this, without exception describing his skills and attitude for his level of experience favorably, even glowingly.An NTSB memorandum of an interview with one of Kennedy's flight instructors reads:
Another flight instructor wrote in the NTSB report memoranda:
Another NTBS instructor interview memorandum, of an active duty military pilot with 3,200 hours of flight experience, wrote of JFK Jr.:
These reports can be read at the official NTBS report appendices, Appendix 4 Operations 2 - Group Chairman Factual Report.
None of these descriptions made it into major media reports, which immediately began reporting many anonymous sources as saying Kennedy took unnecessary risks and was a bad pilot.
Of great interest is the report of a flight instructor who claimed that he offered to co-pilot JFK Jr. on the fateful night, but that JFK said he wanted to "do it alone." What is of interest is that the instructor, Robert Merena, whose testimony is a key part of the narrative, did not come forward until six months later, on January 27, 2000. Why would one of the last people to see JFK Jr. alive, in such a critical position, wait so long?
Moreover, the story seems to contradict Kennedy's normal behavior, of hiring flying instructors to accompany him whenever he could. The website of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association noted:
Below: Excerpt from NTBS instructor interview memorandum, Appendix 4 Operations 2 - Group Chairman Factual Report. Kennedy was "very cautious."
But Why? ... MORE https://hubpages.com/hub/JFK-Junior...or-Oliver-Stone-Before-Mysterious-Plane-Crash
Rare Footage of the John F. Kennedy Jr. - John-John - Dancing
Last edited:
