they want someone who inspires them, who gives them hope, for whom t they have a a kind o of admiration. kennedy's standing hold on the public, i think, will only fade if and when we get another president about whom they feel the same way as they currently feel about kennedy. [music playing]

king: do you ever fear your own health? my own health? yeah, there are nuts in this country. no. the kennedys must think about it. how could they not think about? it's not something that it's sort of, like, walking around wondering if you're going to be struck by lightning. it's kind of -- it's just not something that you really keep in the forefront of your mind much. but it might affect decision-making, right, going into politics, right? right, but it doesn't. ♪ ♪ hey, everyone. welcome to "how it really happened." i'm hill harper. to many americans, he's simply known as john-john, a nickname created by the press and one that jackie kennedy once admitted he hated.

he was the heir to his father's legacy. however, john f. kennedy jr. strove to be his own man, aware of the expectations but set on creating a life of his own making, but that life was tragically cut short at 38 years old. tonight, an investigation into his mysterious plane crash. what really happened to jfk jr.? man: the u. s. coast guard is conducting a search off of the coast of new york, extending now up to martha's vineyard for a private aircraft that, apparently, has now gone overdue. the coast guard is saying to cnn that onboard that plane was believed to be john f. kennedy jr. cuomo: the situation at the beginning was as devastating as it was simple. what we knew was the plane was gone. they cououldn't find it. it wasn't on radar anymore. the information that we had gotten was that john f. kennedy jr.. his wiwife,

and her sister were on a flight from caldwell, new jersey, stopping at martha's vinineyar, then eventntually going to c cape cod. we really didn't have a good sense of what had happened or where they were. amanpourur: i remember when the news first trickled in about john's first disappearance. the internrnational dedesk, as a a courtesy,y, i think,, bebecause theyey knew we were frfriends, calalled m, and theyey said, "have you seen the news?" and, "we just want to keep you abreast of what little we know." bailey: there was a missing-airplane alert, and then in my mind it clicked, "that's jfk jr.'s piper saratoga." i went out to the living room of my friend patricia's house, anand she saidid "john kenenneds plane is missing," and i said, "what does that mean?" and she said, "they don't know." and we a all sort ofof had theos like maybe they ran out of gas and landed on an island somewhere.

amananpour: maybe he'd got los. maybe he'd stopped somewhere with his wife and sister-in-law. maybe he was going to come back. berman: rosemarie, john's assistant, i think she said to me something like, "you know what, i bet you the weather was bad, and ththey landed,d, and theyey're at, likeke, at a a holiday i inn somewheh, anand he's goioing to be s o embabarrassed whwhen he wakeke, anand he sees,s, you know,, what's's going on n in the new" i just kept thinking he's going to kill me if this s gets out b because i w hehe's going t to be fine,, and they'r're going toto kill . they'r're going toto be like, "how did you let this get so out of control?" we can confirm that the faa cleared the airplane for takeoff, and the airplane did take off at 8:38 p.m. on friday, july 16th. that plane left our airspace without any problem. what happened after that remains a mystery. the flying community here at this airport hope for the best but fear the worst. did the plane go down in water? were they going toto find the wreckakage? had theyey done a crcrash-land? had d they crashsh-landed into thehe sea,

and ththey'd swum m off into - thesese were allll the sortrts of queststions. man: a search i is activelyly undery off ththe coast ofof long isld extending all the way up to martha's vineyard. that saturday was the third anniversary of the twa 800 accident. i had planned to go up to long island. i wawas told thehe coast guauad initiated d a search a and res. we were woken up this morning to a call that a plane had been overdue, apparently jfk jr.'s airplane. hall: we hoped that their job would be successful in terms of rescue so that we would not have to do our job, which would be, obviously, a full investigation. woman: waiting and watching, frank. there's not a lot of news coming out of the family compound. we were the first people on the air with this mystery of, wherere is john n jr.? cuomo:o: there e are just c cameras trad onon the waterer off the v vin. ththere's shotots of the s sh, trying to o get informrmatio.

in terms of a news story in my life, it r rarely got t bigger than whatat was startrting to unfn. it w was extraorordinary becee ofof the naturure of the s st, ththe person i involved, and e history of the kennedy family. cuomo: there was only one john kennedy jr. he meant something. he represented something. so the idedea of losining him was so wrorong onon so many d different l les for generarations of a america. [ projector whirring ] lonnstrom: yeah, he was born november 25, 1960. his father had just been elected presidenent of the u united statates a few w weeks befofore that. wewell, now mymy wife and d i pe for a nenew administstration and for a new baby. thank you. tuchman: john f. . kennedy, w when he s presidenent of the u united sta,

had thisis amazinglyly beautitiful familyly, whether r you liked d him popolitically y or not. what's y your earliest memory? we had a dog who was named pushinka. we trained it to slide down this slide that we had in the back of the white house. but probably memories of your father are not great? they're great, but they're not plentiful. cuomo: from a young age, john was fascinated with aviation. you could see it in so many of the photos and films that had been taken. right away, there are photographs of young jfk jr. in air force one, holding g airplanes,s, on thehe presidentnt's helicopr inin the pilotot seat. jfk jr. . obviouslyy loved aiairplanes, loved playaying with a airplan, loved d being in a airplanes. lonnstrom: there's a picture of him being held back by his mother because he wanted to run because his fathther was gogonna take o off withoutu, and he thought that was awful. pierre salinger, the presidential press secretary, told me of the f famous imagas

of j john runnining to g greet his f father. he would r run right p past hihis father t to that helelic, bebecause thatat's what he really y wanted was a a ride on t that choppeper. one coululd look at t it as a a foreshadodowing but an i inevitabilility, real. he h had to get t up into ththe, and hehe knew thisis beforere he could d even spea. [ camerara shutter c clicks ] thomas: there's nothing remarkable about a photograph of a little kid holding an airplane, but, of course, in retrospect, given how he died, there isis a kind ofof sadnes to thosese photograpaphs. i wouldn't say they're so much ominous as kind of they make you shake your head knowing where fate would take that little boy. andersen: jackie wanted them to have a normal life, as normal as humanly possible. of course, all of that ended on november 22, 1963, withth the assasassination of the p president.. ♪

thomas: when president kennedy was killed in 1963, the country, the world was riveted by the funeral, and the imagage of young john f. kekennedy jr.. salutingng his fatheher's cofn is the i image that t stuck for. that famous picture ththat you must've seen 7 zillion times, the little boy, do you remember that? i think that what happens is that you see an image so many times that you begin to believe, remember the image, but i'm not sure i really do. cuomo: i remember the image well because it became a metaphor, and from that point in his life, jojohn became e more than n a, momore than a a man. he became a moment. he became a message. he became a promise of potential. at this hour, here is what we know. there was no distress call, and there was no evidence

that thehere had beeeen any sosort of planane crash. tuchchman: pepeople were stunned because everyone felt like they grew up with john f. kennedy jr.

c'mon, we're right there. c'mon baby. it's the only we need. go, go, go, go! ah! touchdown baby! -touchdown! are your neighbors watching the same game? yeah, my 5g home internet delays the game a bit. but you get used to it. try these. they're noise cancelling earmuffs. i stole them from an airport. it's always something with you, man. great! solid! -greek salad? exactly! don't delay the game with verizon or t-mobile 5g home internet. catch it on the xfinity 10g network. kagan: at this hour, here is what we know. dozens of police officers and investigators

have resumed their search on land, air. and water for john f. kennedy jr., his wife and sister-in-law. camerota: it was a mystery. there was no distress call, and there was no evidence that there had beeeen any sosort of planane crash. there wawas no wreckckage. i mean, , he had vananished. andersen: : what hampepered the search tremendously was that john never bothered to file a flight plan. now, you don't have to file a flight plan, but giveven the circrcumstanc, it w would've obobviously been thehe wise thining to d. larrabee: the initial search was over a huge area, and because we didn't have a flight plan, they had to go back and look at all that radar data, and so it took a while to do that. we worked at that point with the faa. they were able to determine the flight path of the airplane and determine that it was likely going to be someplace south of martha's vineyard, and we began to sort of focus, narrow down, if you will, the search area. i was just sitting by a television.

i mean, as i said, every day, you know, i was,s, you know,, waiting,g, hopingng for the b best. tuchman: people were stunned, because everyone felt like they grew up with john f. kennedy jr. andersen: after the assassination, jackie was devastated, and she decided in 1964 that she h had to moveve back to new yorork city, wherere she basisically grewe. [ camera shutter clicks ] thomas: there's no way that john f. kennedy jr. could have a normal childhood, but his mother tried. my thanks to all of you, and now it's onto chicago, and let's win there. thomas: when bobby kennedy was assassinated in 1968, she said, "if they're killing kennedys, my children are the obvious target." andersen: she married the notorious shipping magnate, aristotle onassis, and instantly the world turned on jackie. they didn't think this was a fitting replacement for the martyred president, but she didn't care,

because shshe said, "l"look, he's's got a 75-5-man securirite that can protect my children." [ camera shutter clicks ] thomas: she wanted to make them safe, and aristotle onassis had an island in greece that w was like a a fortress. it w was a safe e place. tuchman: people felt like john f. kennedy jr. was their little boy, and they watched him become a successful and nice young man. [ camera shuhutter clickcking] andersen: when it came time to choose a college, of course, the obvious assumption was that john would d be going t to harvard e ththe rest of f the kennededy, bubut john wasas smart enonoh to k know that the pressure would be unbearable for him, so he decided instead to go to brown univeversity. it's funny, you know, that he actually took a class at brown on his father's administration and got a "b"-plus. [ chchuckles ] amamanpour: i met john first at university. he was at brown university. i was at the universitity of rhohode island.d. we were e in rhode i island, and d we knew eaeach other through h mutual fririends

anand struck u up a rereally good d friendship, and d i spent twtwo of my yeys atat universitity shararing a housuse with him. you knowow, he was a an incredi, chcharismatic guy. he was obviously the hot guy, the leader on campus. everybody wanted a bit of him. probably to this day probably nobody really believes ththat john kekennedy clcleaned his s own toilete. he did. i'm herere to tell y you, all ththe toilets s in the hou, whwhen it was s his turn.. the 40th national convention of the democratic party of the united states will come to order. 1988 was the perceived coming-out moment in pololitics for john kennedy jr. he appppears at ththe democrac national convention in atlanta to introduduce his uncncle ted. johnhn fitzgeralald kennedy j. andersen: somebody said that, you know, the air pressure in the entire convention hall, you know,went down dramatically just from the intake of gasps when he took the podium

because here was this incredibly good-looking guy that we hadn't seen that much of while he was at brown and speaeaking, realally, for e firsrst time in n his adult vo. thank you very much. tuchman: i distinctly remember saying, "i'm looking forward to seeing michael dukakis, but i'm more looking forward to s seeing john f. kennededy . mamake his spepeech. over a quauarter centutury ag, my father stood before you to accept the nomination for the presidency of the united states. it made people wonder if this was going to be the first of many speeches that would propel him one day to alslso running g for the president t of the uninited sta. so manany of you c came into public s service bececause of . in a very real sense, because of you, he is with us still. and from that point on john the man was a superstar. cuomo: sexiest man, most beautiful man, most desired man,

and that's just what i thought of him. jfk jr. was photographed all the time coming in n and out ofof bars with beaututiful womenen. whenen you thinknk of all ththes that he e went out with, it's kind of remarkable there aren't more memoirs of "mymy night witith john," but therere weren't,t, anand i think k that's becece hehe treated women w well. anandersen: hehe was datining e like madonna. he also dated sarah jessica parker. his real relationship, the important relationship began n in 1988 with dararyl hannah.h. it was the longest-lasting of his life. it lasted six years on a and of. woman: john kennedy jr. had arrived with his girlfriend, actress daryl hannah. the couple, apparently shaken by the onslaught, ran into the church. in 1989, he graduates from law school. pass the bar. [ laughter ] he finally had to take the bar exam, and he flunked it once and then twice. "the hunk flunks."

these were the headlines. he was mortified. no, it's's absolutelely true. yeah, i i didn't pasass the b. i'm obviously very disappointed but... cuomo: that wound up being one of the biggest albatrosses around his neck. because john was dumb? no. john hadad a learnining disabil. john wouould have bebeen allod to havave the quesestions read to hihim, asas many do,, and he w wouldn't dodo that becaususe he thougught people would d think he w was cheati. [ applauause ] slow news day, i guess, huh? and when he finally, you know, squeaked by the third time, you know, he didn't bragag about t it then eieither. he was excxcellent at handlining the presess withth this kindnd of easasy charm. so is itit true ththat you pasassed the? apparently it's true. i got the official word not long ago, so it's true. how do you feel about it? i'm very pleased. woman: i'm sorry. rob, where are you? [ chuckles ] you know, it tastes pretty sweet at the moment. cuomo: the biggest celebrity today would get crushed like a bug under the amount of pressure that that man dealt with every day, and you'd never know it by looking at him. john was in the tabloids a lot. he knew to expect that.

he was a k kennedy. but thenen john met t caroly. john didn't tell his family until like six months later. terenzio: i thinink carolyn n felt that once i it was out, she said, "it wasn't my treasure anymore. it wasn't mine anymore."

man: we are closely following the search-and-rescue efforts underway to locate john f. kennedy jr., whose plane has gone missing. john f. kennedy, of course, not alone on that airplane. his wife, carolyn bessette-kennedy, was with him, as well. she, a doctor's daughter, having been raised in greenwich, connecticut. she was voted the ultimate beautiful person by her classmates. andersen: the fall of 1993, john walked into the calvin klein store in new york looking for a suit and met a young personal buyer there named carolyn bessette, this g gorgeous blblonde wiwith pale-blblue eyes, and, you know, he ended up buying three suits and a bunch of shirts and ties and getting her phone number in the process. soon she was a big part of his life. when i met carolyn, she was the head of pr at calvin klein. shshe was very fashionable, very effortlessly chic,

clever, charming, funny, intelligent woman. cuomo: what made her special was her spirit. she did not need to be john kennedy's girlfriend, and he was acutely aware of that, and that made him want her even more. radziwill: she always thought that the relationships that you waited patiently for were the only ones worth having. terenzio: if she was your friend, she was your best friend, and she didn't come across that way, unfortunately, but, boy, did people miss out who didn't get to know her. [ camera s shutter clilicks ] berman: yeah, i think the public perception of carolyn was the opposite of what she was. you know, she didn't agree to do any intervieiews, so no one heard her voice, so you wououldn't know -- you u didn't reaeally get a sense e of who shehe was except foror what s she looked d like. andersrsen: we sawaw pictures of carolyn, you know, frowning or running away from cameras. i don't think most people understood the pressures that were on her. it was quite powerful to see them together.

their chemistry was really palpable. cuomo: they were both very passionate people. that means you're going to have conflict. yoyou're goingng to be upsp. you'u're going t to have dowo. andersen: there was the famous squabble in the park in which they are shouting at each other and fighting over the dog, and it's really quite heated. terenzio: it was ridiculous. it was over and done with in, you know, an hour, and d they were e fine, bubut it was a all caught t on . bradley: we all felt bad for them because who hasn't had a blow-out fight with a partner? but you don't have it and have the whole world know about it. radziwill: she called me one day and she said, "you have to come down right away." she told me that they had gotten engaged. she told me then not to tell anyone because they just wanted it to be quiet for a while,

and i don't think john -- jojohn didn't t tell his f fay until likeke six monthths lat. [ camera shutter clicks ] terenzio: i think carolyn felt that once it was out, it wasn't, you know, like she said, "it t wasn't my y treasure a an. it wasn't t mine anymomore." radziwiwill: they got married in september of 1996. we arrived on cumberland island, and there was not a single reporter, photographer, and not a single soul knew except foror the 40 ofof us whwho were invnvited. it was quite spectacular. terenzio: we all thought that once john was married, the paparazzi situation would subside. it was t the complete opposite. one e of the mosost eligible bachelelors in thehe u.s. is eligible no more. terenzio: people were a little pissed off that he got married. he was supposed to be the sexiest man alive and the most eligible bachelor for the rest of his life. it's a sad day if it's true for all the women out there. it's going to end.

they'll get divorced. i wonder, who proposed? she was vilified for taking away the prince of camelot. andersen: john felt he had to actually hold kind of an impromptu press conference on the steps of his condominium in soho and, with her at his side, explain to the press this was all new to her, that he knew how to handle it because he had grown up with it, but this was something the press had to take into account and that they really had to back off and give her time to kind of adjust to o this new l life asas mrs. johnhn f. kennededy. of course, they didn't. as a matter of fact, it only got worse. cuomo: in 1999, john was facing some tough challenges. bradley: political consultants, money people, it felt very logical to them, too. okay, john, now is the time.

welcome back to "how it really happened." john f. kennedy jr.'s piper saratoga plane vanished on a hazy friday night in july. from the time it was reported missing early saturday morning throughout the entire weekend, a monstrous coast-guard search combed the atlantic waters looking for wreckage and looking for clues. did the plane go down? could they have survived? at this point, no one knew. all we knew is that we were hoping for a miracle. king: the search continues for the missing plane

piloted by john f. kennedy jr. and carrying his wife and her sister. we'll get an update on the search. admiral, what specifically at this point are you looking for? larry, this evening we have coast-guard vessels, aircraft, and they are searching about a 550-square-mile area, and they are primarily looking for debris and continue to look for any signs of survivors. as time goes on, does it get futile from a coast-guard standpoint? you've dealt with many things like this. not at this point, larry. amanpour: none of his friends spoke about him when he was alive because there was this sort of unspoken understanding that, yes, he was a public figure. but you know what? when it cacame to frieiendshp and peopople who knenew him, he expecteted confidenentiali. christiane amanpour, she's a close friend of john f. kennedy. where did that friendship begin? i think i responded to larry king's request

to go on his program that night because i didn't believe that john wouldn't be found. i nenever have s sn or felt itit approprie to speak about john in public before, and i'm doing so tonight because sometimes, and today is one of those cases, a friend needs a little bit of help. i remember talking about him as if he was going to somehow reappear. he stitill is offificially al, byby the way. if you're just joining us, there has been no declaration of any kind. absolutely, and all of us are still praying for him to come home safely. i guess i wanted people to know, you know, what a g great guy h he was, anand i wanteded to keep hope a. the last time my husband and i saw him, he was going to fly to toronto on a mission for george. -the same plane? -same plane. he was going to do a mission for george, his magazine. ♪ ladies and gentlemen, meet george. terenzio: the first idea that john and his business partner had

was to mass produce handmade kayaks, and that was not a viable business option, so they decided to do george magazine. -i thought you were a lawyer. -i was. what happened? well, we decided, i mean, actually taking cue from folks like yourself and you around the 1992 election, that there was an opportunity here to change the definition of the political magazine. the response to the magazine has been enormously gratifying. it was, i think, the biggest launch of a magazine, the biggest first issue physically that had e ever happened. i don't think i've seen as many of you in one place since they announced the results of my first bar exam, so -- the idea for george actually started with president clinton. he was the firstst presidentt to do o a late-night talk show, and i think a light went off with john, and he thought, "there's something here," and maybe they'll pay attention to politics a bit more

if we can n make it sexy, and so gegeorge magagazine wawas that. cuomo: he liked that he surprised people by doing this, he liked that it was a challenge, he thought that it mattered, he thought he was ahead of the curve, and he was right on every basis. i like not beining in politi. i like the proximity to it that a magazine like this affords me. thrilled enough to someday want to run? a public career, it's a lot to bite off, and you better be ready for it, and, you know, the old definition of politics was that you bring it at the end of your life when you really have something to sort of offer. in 1999, john was facing some tough challenges. his s magazine w was strugglg. nenew york's l long-time s sen, daniel patatrick moyninihan, let it be known that he was going to retire. political consultants, money people, it felt very logical to them. "okay, john, you have had your fun at george.

now is the time." ...where president kennedy first made the decision to send americans to the moon. so it was spring of 1999, and john was approached by some friends influential in the democratic party, and they wanted him to run for the u.s. senate. another famous person surfaces as a possibility for that seat, and ththat is hillllary clint. bradley: in march 1999, we held a press conference. john was asked whether or not he thought hillary clinton would run for senate. i'm sort of betting that she will. i have a large bet with rich. i think she probably will. like 100 bucks or something, like, not a big deal for him. i think k any time y you have some excxciting persrsonalitis and the prospect of a real face-off, it's great, because people are engaged in the political process. so john was well aware of what he would sacrifice if and when he made the choice to go into politics. terenzio: he had a few conversations about it, maybe one or two meetings about it, and he said,

"if hillary clinton is running, i'm not going to run against her. i'm not going to challenge hillary clinton," and he didn't. anandersen: most experts i spoke with said that there was no doubt that he would, in a contest with hillary, come out on top. imagine how different it would have been if john f. kennedy had run. i mean, first of all, he would have ended hillary clinton's political career, essentially, would have conceivably go on to make a presidential bid of his own. larrabee: we are in a search-and-rescue mode. the full intent of the searchers and all of the people behind the sceness was toto find three peopople alive.. they found a pill bottle -- had carolyn bessette's name on it.

we update you now on the search for john f. kennedy jr., his wife carolyn bessette-kennedy, and his sister-in-law, lauren bessette. larrabee: we are in a search-and-rescue mode. the full intent of the searchers and all of the people behind the scenes was to find three people alive floating on the surface of the water or someplace in that area where we could rescue them. it was absolutely one of those stories

where,e, every sececond, yoyou hoped ththat the nexext t you werere going to hear gogood news. bubut then thihings begann to wasash up on shshore. man: i'm told the coast guard is now saying debris has been spotted off martha's vineyard. i remember that feeling of, "i hope it's not theirs. i hope it't's not theieirs." they f found one o of the flflight bagss frfrom laurenn washeded up on shohore. they actually found a wheel that washed up on shore. they found a pill bottle -- had carolyn bessette's name on it. and then it becomes, did they survive? could -- d did they jujump ou? firsrst, of coururse, all of john's f friends belelieved thatat he wouldd turn u up somewherere, and i i think evereryone fefelt that waway. after r all, he wawas known to his friendsds as t the master r of disaste. he had this penchant for taking risks but t always comining out of t in good d shape. amanpour: you know, john was an adventurer. he spent a lot of time in the wilderness

in his various campings and outward bobounds and kayakings. andersen: just shortly before his death, he asked officials for permission to rappel down the face of mount rushmore. arnot: there is this thing called a type-"t" personality, which is a thrill-seeking personality, and it's been alleged this is what the kennedy family has. therere's no question that john was fearless and loved adventure. some of that adventure was also an attempt to escscape the susurly bond, in thihis case, of thehe overwhelmlming and d oppressingng public atatt. just to find somewhere to be alone and to be able to think for himself. flying, to me, was a logical extension of that impulse, right, adventure, speed, e escape. john started taking his flying lessons in the early 1980s. told a f friend it w was the e most fun he ever had withth clothes o on.

andedersen: it was thehe only way y he cod get awayay from everything, get away from all the expectations and the burdens and the prying eyes. and he felt that it was the only place he could truly be free. the bibiggest thining about flg for john is he was out of the public eye. bradley: i remember, i took a flight with john, a commercial flight with john. it was a zoo. he'd always take a window seat so that nobody could, you know, tap him on the shoulder or keep approaching him and asking him for autographs. arnot: the other part that he loved is he loved being accepted by another professional class for who he was as a pilot as opposed to who he was because of his family, so when he was up there, whatever his call l sign was,, it w wasn't, "hehey, jfk jr." andersen: jackie had kind of a paradoxical attitude toward john and his risk-taking. she loved that spirit in him, that kind of daredevil quality. there was one thing that jackie did not want john n to do, and that w was to learn to flfly. you have to remember the track record of the kennedy family

when it comes to airplanes. john jr.'s uncle joe was killed, essentially, in a plane crash during the war, his aunt kathleen was killed in a plane crash, and his step-brother, alexander onassis, was killed in a plane crash. ethel kennedy's parents were killed in one plane crash, and her brother was killed in another plane crash. teddy kennedy was almost killed in a plane crash that killed his campaign manager and the pilot. jackie had this rececurring preremonitin that herer son wouldld die inin a plane c crash. now, i mean, she was adamant, and so thahat's why hehe gavep flying, ouout of respepect for . andersen: jackie s said that if yoyou bue raising your children, nothing else you do in life matters very much, so she was, in every way possible, a handnds-on motheher righght up to ththe end. at t the time ofof her death, she was absolutely convinced that she had managed to save her children, that they had escaped the kennedy curse.

less than two hours ago, jacqueline kennedy onassis died at her manhattan apartment. man: the world once mourned with her. now it mourns for her. john jr. and jackie were extremely close, soso it was vevery sad when jackikie died, and we a all did imamagine how d itit was on jojohn and hisis sr because eveven thoughh they w were adultsts, you know, they were orphans. last night at around 10:15, my mother passed. there's been an enormous outpouring of good wishes from everyone both in new york and beyond, and i speak for all of our family when i say we're extremely grateful. andersen: after her death, he felt that he lived up to his promise during her lifetime, but now that she had gone, he felt that he really had to take to the skies. and this time he took it up seriously. andersen: john began taking lessons at the vero beach, florida, flightsafety academy. o'brien: the story here is, when kennedy finished his private-pilot training, he told the manager of this flight academy,

"if i should crash, they'll try to put the blame on you." it was meant as a joke but today seems sadly prophetic. then in 1998, john got his pilot's license. wellll, i was rereading usa todaday, and they had a little clip up in the corner that john f. kennedy had gotten his pilot's license. i don't know why it was, but it was just a chill. it was just a concern that i can't reaeally descriri. navy divers zero in today on the possible splash point where john f. kennedy's plane dove into the atlantic off martha's vineyard, massachusetts. and the voice said, "this is the white house. stand by for the e president.t."

i went to our command center on saturday night, and the phone rang, and the vovoice said,, "this s is the whihite house. ststand by foror the presisid" i really wasn't sure i was getting a real, true story, and it turned out to be president clinton, and he called and said, "i want you to tell me

thatat you're gegetting alll the reresources ththat you nee" and d that was t the end of f. man:n: the searcrch continues in the waters off martha's vineyard with air assets including helicopters and a c-130 military plane. because of the history of that family and the tragededies ththat have bebefallen itt there was a tremendous will. you cocould feel i it in thehe coverage, you could feel it in people, you could feel it in the newspapers for there to be a happy ending here. larrabee: the longer a case like this goes that you don't find somebody the more likely, obviously, it is thatat you're nonot goig to find sosomebody alilive. we went through sunday morning and continued to search. we used infrared equipment. we used a variety of technology, so by the end of sununday afafternoon, there was no doubt wewe were no l longer gogoing to find a miraclcle. we had now been into this thing for almost 48 hours, and when you start putting all of the facts together, whenen you lookk at thehe survivability rates

of 68-8-degree watater, wewe had far e exceeded thth. [ camerara shutter c clicks ] if someone had been alive, if they had been floating on the surface of the water, we would have seen them with a 99.9% chance of detection. ♪ i had a very sober conversation with senator kennedy. he was very sombmber, obviously grieving but very focused and knknew exactly the riright questitions to as. teterenzio: [ [ voice breaeak] the senatotor's officece calld and said, "we're going to announce that we're switching from search and rescue to search and recovevery," and d i said, "what dodoes that memean?" and d they said d they don't't t to find d him alive.e. [ snsniffles ] larrababee: we're gogoing to shihift our fs on searcrch and rescue to search and recovery. there was a deployment, of course, of a number of ships with whahat is c called sidede-sonar radr

to try to begin looking for the wreckage. and there were some criticisms that so many resources wewere being u used fofor one privivate pilott who happened to be part of the kennedy family. i did talk to admiral larrabee at a time when the operation might normally have ceased, and he said, "i think we have a chance to find something else because of the equipment we have here even though it's difficult." hall: the president made the decision that it was in the interest of the nation to recover this aircraft as well as the victims. there was a strong possibility if the navy did not recover the wreckage that someone privately would have done that fofor a commerercial reasos. if anynyone believeves that w was wrong,, the coast guard is not at fault. i am. it was because i thought it was the right thing to do under the circumstances.

larrabee: and we began a methodical search of the area from monday until tuesday night. lin: navy divers zero in today on the possible splash point where john f. kennedy's plane dove into the atlantic off martha's vineyard, massachusetts. and then the news came that it wasn't the dream. it was the nightmare. theyey had confifirmed with h te of both h the side-scan n sonr anand then a r remote opoperated vehehicle that thehey'd found the aiaircr. man: last t night at a about 11, admiraral larrabeeee told us that they hit what they had been looking for, which was a large portion of the fuselage. hall: it was located six or seven miles, i believe, off martha's vineyard in approximately 120 feet of water. radziwill: that was almost a relief because there was just so much anxiety in those three days about what was going to hahappen now. larrrrabee: what we didn't kno, which was important to us,

was, you know, would we find the remains? it's funny, you know. we jusust learned d about it like eveverybody elslse, leararned about t it on the e . -i'm sorryry. we h have to intnterrupt foror e brbreaking newews right nonow. carol? yeah, i apologize for that, leon. cnn has learned that the body of john f. kennedy jr. has been found off the point of martha's vineyard. the body was found in about 100 feet of water overnight in a significant part of the wreckage. cuomo: they saw john f. kennedy jr. still strapped in his seat. later that day, they also found carolyn bessette's body, her sister lauren's body. cuomo: you just have these waves of, why does this keep happening to this family? how does this keep happening? and then john of all people? how can they be gone? once they found the plane, it didn't mean that the mystery was over. therere were a whole hostt of queuestions thatat we were a all runningng d trying t to figure o out. whwhy did it happen? was this equipment malfunction?

was this pilot error? investigators are searching for clues to the cause of john f. kennedy jr.'s plane crash. man: the estimates are that it's going to take six months before investigators will be able to say what was the cause of this crash. camerota: what was the weather that night? did anybody at any other airports get anany sort of communinication frorom hi? woman:n: when y you hear ababout this re ththat this plane was dropping, what does that say to you? well, something was clearly, clearly wrong. the first question is, obviously, what happened? what did happen to john f. kennedy jr.? before the plane was even found, the ntsb launched an investigation. they interviewed witnesses, pulled john's training history. did his plane malfunction? was it pilot error? what went on inside that cockpit? in part two of "how it really happened: the death of john f. kennedy, jr." we find the answers, and it might surprise you. good night.