Aaliyah arriving in the Bahamas two days before her death
On August 25, 2001, after Aaliyah and the record company employees had completed filming the music video for "Rock the Boat"at 6:50 p.m. (EDT), they boarded a twin-engine Cessna 402B (registration N8097W) at the Marsh Harbour Airport on the Abaco Islands, the Bahamas, for the return trip back to Opa-locka Airport in Florida.[6] The return flight was originally booked for the following day, but filming had finished early, and Aaliyah and her entourage were eager to return to the United States. They made the decision to leave immediately. The aircraft designated for the return flight was smaller than the one on which they had originally arrived, but it accommodated the whole party and all of their equipment.[7]
The passengers had grown impatient because the Cessna was supposed to arrive at 4:30 p.m. EDT but did not appear until 6:15 p.m. EDT.[2] Charter pilot Lewis Key claimed to have overheard passengers arguing with fellow pilot Luis Morales 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."[8] Key indicated that Morales gave in to the passengers and that he had trouble starting one of the engines.[9]
The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, about 200 feet (60 m) from the runway.[6] Aaliyah and the eight others on board: pilot Luis Morales III, hair stylist Eric Foreman, Anthony Dodd, security guard Scott Gallin, family friend Keith Wallace, make-up artist Christopher Maldonado, and Blackground Records employees Douglas Kratz and Gina Smith were killed.[10] Gallin survived the initial impact and, according to paramedics, spent his last moments worrying about Aaliyah's condition.[11] Kathleen Bergen, spokeswoman for the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Atlanta, identified the aircraft as being owned by Florida-based company Skystream. Initial crash reports identified Luis Morales as "L Marael".[12]
Key suggested that engine failure, along with overloading of the aircraft, could have caused the crash, recalling that others had seen the plane experience an engine failure on takeoff. One witness believed that no one could have survived the accident because of the crash intensity and the fact that the aircraft had disintegrated upon impact. He also 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."[8] A 25-year-old charter pilot who witnessed the crash saw the Cessna go down as he was working on some machinery "about half a mile" away. He recalled the aircraft being only "sixty to one hundred feet" 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. "I've seen crashes before but that was probably one of the worst ones," he said. "It was pretty devastating. The aircraft was broken into pieces and some of the seats were thrown from the aircraft."[13]
The New York Post printed one of the last photographs taken of Aaliyah, wrongly labeled it as taken before the crash with a fan, Alvin Lightbourne, who wanted it as a souvenir.[14] The photo was in fact taken when Aaliyah arrived to the Bahamas, on Thursday, August 23. She had spoken to the fan for fifteen minutes and gave him a hug as well. Lightbourne praised her for a recent donation to a charity and Aaliyah explained: "God blessed me with money and now it's time to give back."[11][15]
Aaliyah talked a month before her death about her favorite dream: "Someone's following me and I don't know why. I'm scared. Then suddenly I lift off. Far away. As if I'm swimming in the air. Nobody can reach me. Nobody can touch me. It's a wonderful feeling
I know Aaliyah... she was not Queen of the Damned.
She was beautiful ...making a living like us.
She was a Christine type of being ...nobody can own her ....beautiful and wild ...
