Video: 'JFK JR.'S PLANE IS MISSING (LIVE TELEVISION NEWS COVERAGE FROM JULY 17, 1999)' (11:15 a.m. EDT-5:15 p.m. EDT)

(Friday, July 16, 1999, approximately 9:41 p.m. EDT; during the John F. Kennedy Jr. plane crash) — 38-year-old John F. Kennedy Jr., the son of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, his 33-year-old wife, Carolyn, and her 34-year-old sister, Lauren Bessette, died tonight when their single-engine plane, piloted by Kennedy, plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard.

Video: 'Does This Scenario Explain JFK Jr.'s Plane Crash?'

The official investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that Kennedy fell victim to spatial disorientation while he was descending over water at night and consequently lost control of his plane.

Video: 'John F. Kennedy Jr.’s Tragic Final Flight Retraced In New Documentary | TODAY'

Kennedy did not hold an instrument rating and therefore he was only certified to fly under visual flight rules.

At the time of the crash, the weather and light conditions were such that all basic landmarks were obscured, making visual flight challenging, although legally still permissible.