2001 Marsh Harbour Cessna 402 crash

On August 25, 2001, a Cessna 402 twin-engine light aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Marsh Harbour Airport on the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas, killing the pilot and all eight passengers on board. Among the victims were American singer and actress Aaliyah and members of her entourage, including a hairdresser, her bodyguard and a record executive. The group had just completed filming of the music video for "Rock the Boat" and had chartered the flight to return to Florida.

The subsequent investigation determined the aircraft had attempted to take off while heavily overloaded, and also held eight passengers exceeding its certified maximum of seven. It also emerged that the pilot falsified records on his experience and qualifications to fly this type of aircraft.

Background

Appearing on BET's 106 & Park on August 21, 2001, Aaliyah announced that shooting of the video for the single "Rock the Boat", to be directed by Hype Williams, would begin the following day. Nearly sixty people worked on the video in the Bahamas. On August 22, Aaliyah travelled to Miami, Florida, and filmed dance routines backed by a green screen during the day, with underwater shots for the video in the evening. On August 23, Aaliyah and employees of Virgin Records America flew to the Bahamas on two flights using a Fairchild Metro III, chartered through Sky Limo. She was scheduled to leave the Bahamas on August 26, but chose to leave the day before since she had finished early. Williams recalled, "Aaliyah left mid-production, so we were still shooting when she left."

The New York Post printed one of the last photographs taken of Aaliyah, when the singer posed with a fan. The Post wrongly labeled the photo as having been taken shortly before the flight departed and crashed. It was later determined the photo was in fact taken when Aaliyah arrived in the Bahamas on Thursday, August 23.

Accident

On Saturday, August 25, at 6:50 p.m. (EDT), after she had completed her portions of the music video, Aaliyah and Virgin employees boarded a twin-engine Cessna 402B (registration N8097W) at the Marsh Harbour Airport, on the Abaco Islands, for the return trip back to Opa-locka Airport in Florida. The aircraft designated for the return flight was smaller than the one on which they had originally arrived, but it still had room to take on the whole party and all of their equipment.

The passengers had grown impatient because the Cessna was supposed to arrive at 4:30 p.m. EDT, but did not arrive until 6:15 p.m. EDT. Charter pilot Lewis Key claimed to have overheard passengers arguing with the pilot, Luis Morales III, prior to take off, adding that Morales warned them that there was too much weight for a "safe flight". Key further stated: "He tried to convince them the plane was overloaded, but they insisted they had chartered the plane and they had to be in Miami Saturday night." Key indicated that Morales gave in to the passengers and that he had trouble starting one of the engines.

According to Kathy Iandoli's 2021 biography, Aaliyah was a nervous flier. She had serious reservations about flying on the small, overloaded plane and refused to board. After arguing with the rest of her entourage about it, she retreated into a taxicab to rest, claiming that she had a headache. One of the passengers was sent to check on her and proceeded to give her an unidentified pill and a glass of water. She took the pill, fell back asleep, and was aided into the plane.

The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, about 200 ft from the runway. Aaliyah and five of the eight others on board were killed instantly. Scott Gallin, Aaliyah's security guard, and two other people initially survived the crash, but died shortly afterwards. According to the paramedics on scene, Gallin spent his last moments asking about Aaliyah's condition.

One witness recalled the condition of the bodies: "It was an awful sight. Some bodies were so badly disfigured, you couldn't identify them. And two guys were alive – one screaming and screaming for help. He was horribly burned all over." A pilot who witnessed the crash saw the Cessna go down as he was working on some machinery "about half a mile" (.5 mi) away. He recalled the aircraft being only "60 to 100 feet" (60 to 100 ft) off the ground before it crashed. He went to get a fire truck and was stunned by what he saw upon arriving at the crash site. "It was pretty devastating. The aircraft was broken into pieces and some of the seats were thrown from the aircraft."