The Kennedy Family Did Not Want John F. Kennedy Jr.'s Autopsy Photographed for a Good Reason

On July 16, 1999, the Kennedy curse took another member of the family when a plane flown by John F. Kennedy Jr. crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. The youngest surviving child of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was flying to a cousin's wedding on Cape Cod when spatial disorientation caused him to lose control of the aircraft. His wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, were also on board. All three were killed.

Their bodies were found five days later. According to the New York Post, they were still strapped into their seats. John was in the cockpit while Carolyn and Lauren were elsewhere on the plane. Six weeks prior to the accident, John broke his right ankle reportedly rollerblading around Martha's Vineyard over Memorial Day Weekend. Some have suggested his injury played a part in the crash. What did John's autopsy reveal? Here's what we know.

John, Carolyn, and Lauren's causes of death were listed as "multiple traumatic injuries," not drowning. The state-mandated autopsies lasted four hours. When it came to John, the Kennedy family insisted that no photographs be taken during the autopsy, per UPI. Autopsy photos are standard, but the Kennedys were concerned about pictures leaking to the press.

After the bodies were removed from the plane, salvage efforts revealed more information about the crash, The Guardian reported. John was a relatively new pilot who got his license on April 22, 1998. The crash occurred when he was about 20 miles outside of Martha's Vineyard. John had descended to about 2,300 feet when he inexplicably made a right turn toward the open ocean. He then turned left and was heading east when the plane began descending rapidly.

The airplane was going down at roughly 5,000 feet per minute. "We call this getting yourself in a square corner, when you run out of ideas and experience at the same time," Michael Barr, director of the aviation safety program at the University of Southern California, told The Guardian at the time. Barr went on to describe a scenario where John lost his bearings and was trying to bring the nose of the plane back up. "Even for a good pilot, that could produce a death spiral."

Per the Duxbury Clipper, the bodies of John, Carolyn, and Lauren were cremated at the Mayflower Cemetery crematorium. "There had to be a certain amount of secrecy," said Joe Ziobro, superintendent of cemeteries for the town of Duxbury, Mass. "We did not want a media circus."

At around 9:00 a.m. on July 22, 1999, close family members boarded the U.S.S. Briscoe with the remains. The ashes of the three victims were scattered in the Atlantic Ocean where the plane crashed, several miles off the coast near Gay Head. The estate of John's mother, who died in May 1994, could be seen from their final resting place.