John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr died with his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and his wife's sister, Lauren Bessette.

Kennedy was piloting the single-engine plane himself. It crashed just off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. An instructor had offered to accompany him, it is said, but he refused, saying he wanted to do the flight on his own.

It has since been discovered that Kennedy had not qualified for a licence to fly the plane "instruments only".

With weather conditions deteriorating, and it being a moonless night, he would have been required to use "instruments only" to land the plane or he could easily have lost his bearings.

Kennedy also had a broken ankle which could have provided additional difficulties.

It took off at 9:32 am EDT (local time) from Cape Kennedy, Florida. The first attempt to land a man on the moon.

An estimated one million people gathered to see the rocket launch.

On board the craft were Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin.