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Oct. 13, 1999 - Bill Cooper
59:12
JFK Jr. Murdered
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Once upon a wonderful world, we do not know how things are.
Yes, I have heard it before, but no one says it like that.
I have heard it before, but no one says it like that.
I'm William Cooper.
You're listening to the Hour of the Time.
I'm William Cooper.
Ladies and gentlemen, tonight, once again, we have scooped the world.
And I mean the world.
Bye.
Not long ago, John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr.
was flying in a plane with his wife and his wife's cousin, and the plane never made it to its first scheduled stop, which was Martha's Vineyard, the airport on Martha's Vineyard.
It was a 90-minute flight from his takeoff point to Martha's Vineyard.
And, uh, it was reported that his plane was missing.
It was also reported that visibility that night was almost zero, that you couldn't see anything and that he should not have been flying because he didn't have a pilot instrument rating.
It was also said that the ceiling was really low.
The experts told us that There was no communication between John F. Kennedy Jr.'
's airplane and any ground station during the flight, and that the plane vanished.
Well, initial reports of our people who live in that part of the world told me that that just was not true.
Also, somebody, somebody had planted a transponder, also known as a beacon, Off Montauk Point to fool the air search.
A beacon, also known as a transponder, is in every airplane that flies.
And if the plane crashes, the beacon, any kind of a real hard impact or something that is not supposed to happen, triggers the mechanism in the beacon and it begins to broadcast a radio signal That basically says help, help, help, help, help.
Over and over and over and over and over again.
It's just a standard radio signal that everybody in the world recognizes when they hear it as a downed aircraft.
An aircraft that has crashed.
Now, this phony beacon that was located off Montauk Point was many, many, many miles away from where John F. Kennedy's plane actually crashed.
There was no accident that the beacon was there.
No other plane had crashed in that area.
Somebody planted that beacon so that the rescue effort would not go near the area of the real crash.
The reason for that is obvious.
If anybody happened to survive the crash, they might be picked up alive.
However, if nobody was looking for them there, they would spend so many hours in that cold water, that by the time anybody ever found them they would be dead.
This was an intentional, an intentional deception to concentrate the search away from the actual
place where John F. Kennedy Jr.'s plane crashed.
We also had reports from local people in Martha's Vineyard and in Boston that local TV reports
had reported that John F. Kennedy did indeed contact the tower at Martha's Vineyard.
and I'll see you next time.
During his final approach, only ten miles from the end of the island, getting ready to land and descending on his approach glide path, just a few minutes away from landing.
When we contacted the people in the tower there, soon as they discovered what we had called to find out, no one would talk to us.
When we called the news people who had reported it, there was fear in their voice, and they denied ever having reported that John F. Kennedy, and I mean denied, denied to me personally, that John F. Kennedy had ever called or that they had ever reported that he made a radio call to any place on the ground.
They lied, ladies and gentlemen, and they lied blatantly.
All of their footage for the reporting station WCVB-TV in Boston is maintained by an independent company that archives all of their air footage, their videotape.
WCVB-TV in Boston called this company and told them to cut the tape on that particular day at a particular time code And then cut out all from that point all the way up to the six o'clock news and destroy it.
Well, the company didn't do that.
Instead they waited until somebody ordered the tape and then they would go to the time code and cut it there.
The only thing is WCVB TV in Boston gave them the wrong time code.
And that enabled us to know that they did actually report that John F. Kennedy had called the tower at Martha's Vineyard Airport.
Now the trick was to get the whole tape, which we were told did not exist.
Our people actually went there, obtained the tape.
The whole tape.
Nothing but the tape.
The truth.
And you're going to hear it tonight.
You're going to hear the report of the Phony Beacon off Montauk Point.
You're going to hear a lot of things.
Pay attention to the detail.
The first tape you're going to hear is the first tape that we obtained.
Right up to the cut, the cut that was just about 30 seconds too late, but did indeed cut at a point where we could not prove that he had called, only that they had begun to report it.
I will tell you when that cut occurs.
Then we pick up the second tape, the tape that contains the whole story.
You will be amazed.
Once again, we have scooped the world, ladies and gentlemen.
I cannot give you the names of any of the people who participated in this operation.
People who are always sticking their neck out to do their job for the Intelligence Service and the Citizens Agency for Joint Intelligence.
Very brave men and women all across this country and, in fact, around the world.
So listen very, very closely.
You are going, ladies and gentlemen, to hear the smoking gun.
The proverbial smoking gun.
The Smoking Gun.
Yes, stay out of fire.
Get out of my house.
You stay out of that!
Stay out of my house!
I'm gonna burn your school and your house!
Please stay out of this!
Let go of me.
Let go of me!
I don't care what you feel!
I don't care what you feel!
I'll do anything for you!
Citizens of Jerusalem, I beg your permission to leave this place.
I beg your permission to leave this place.
Dispatching the Kennedy's at my opinion at about 10 o'clock.
Heard nothing.
Contacted the airport.
We're told there had been no word from the plane.
They contacted FAA officials who then began this search and it has at this point been three-fold.
Because of a beacon, an emergency beacon, that was detected off of Long Island, Montauk Point, early this morning at about 2.15 as a matter of fact.
Crews scoured that area first and have continued to scour that area but have found nothing.
They have centered the search around the 373 square mile area off of Eastern Long Island.
They also, because of a radar track, Just miles west of the vineyard last night, Halb searched and have located that as a major search point as well.
In addition to that, Air National Guard pilots are tracing what they believe to have been the route that JFK would have taken last night.
At this point, according to what the family has told us, it is believed that Uh, Kennedy was the pilot of the plane and that in fact he was the only one, uh, the only pilot on board.
There had been earlier reports that perhaps there had been a fourth passenger, a flight instructor.
According to the family and what they had told us, that is not the case.
The family is also saying that they are not Sure, that JFK Jr.
had the proper license to pilot the plane last night, though the FAA has in fact not confirmed that.
What is known as a fact is it's because of the type of aircraft, the flight, and the weather conditions last night an official flight plan was not filed nor was one necessary and because there is no flight plan no official plan the search and rescue teams can only surmise by looking at maps and knowing the kind of plan involved what the route
Would have been, and they are trying to trace that this morning.
They have done so unsuccessfully several times, but are continuing to make that a part of the search this morning.
It normally is approximately a 90-minute flight from Caldwell, New Jersey to the Martha's Vineyard Airport.
That's the latest that we know about the search.
We are continuing to be in contact with the Kennedy family, as well as Coast Guard and Air Rescue Team, as well as Officials at the White House can tell us that the Pentagon will hold a news conference approximately an hour from now.
Anthony?
All right, Susan, thank you.
Obviously, the Air Force involved in this search, as well as the Coast Guard and volunteers, Civil Air Patrol, I think they're trying to get almost any plane they can or helicopter they can up into the sky at this point to search these areas off of Vineyard and off Montauk Point at the tip of Long Island to see if there can be any debris found.
But, of course, the size of this plane, a small single-engine plane in this vastness of ocean, Kelly Tuthill is at Martha's Vineyard.
She's at the airport there.
Has been all morning and has some new information.
radio beacon and also given some of the weather conditions we see today from
these live pictures from our news helicopter. Kelly Tuthill is at Martha's
Vineyard. She's at the airport there, has been all morning, and has some new
information. Kelly? Anthony, I'm standing with Lieutenant Colonel Richard Stanley of the
Massachusetts Civil Air Patrol.
He can only talk about the search that's happening right here in Martha's Vineyard, but I asked him to come over just to give you some more information about what's happening here.
I'm going to put him on the phone, and Anthony, maybe you can ask him a question or two.
Very good.
Lieutenant Colonel, this is Anthony Everett.
I just have a couple of questions for you.
What can you tell us about the search effort being conducted from the airport there on Martha's Vineyard?
Well, basically what we've done, we got out early this morning and we were sent directly to Martha's Vineyard.
And we have conducted a search on the island here, the perimeter and the inlet, etc.
And we're just one segment of this whole search.
The mission base for Massachusetts is at Worcester.
And your reporter has the phone number there with the mission coordinator.
We're just an air crew.
There's three of us here.
We just completed Martin's Vineyard and we're going out on another search at this time.
Now have you been given this information that we've heard that the last radar contact for this plane was just a few miles west of the vineyard?
Have you heard that at all?
We didn't hear that location.
We heard that there was an intact location.
An NCAP location?
Do you know anything?
Yeah, they call that an NCAP.
What they do is they try to identify a particular aircraft.
Otherwise, he was sparking a VFR code 1200.
Right.
And those are not designated as sparker codes.
And what it is, is they'll show up on radar, but you have to identify that aircraft somehow.
So they try to go back to the starting point, say, New Jersey.
And if they can identify that aircraft taken off at that airport, and identify his particular echo return, then they can trace that aircraft along its route and collect the spirits.
What kind of aircrafts are you using in your storage?
It's a 182.
And tell me what the conditions are like today.
We keep looking at our live helicopter pictures over the vineyard and it seems to be hazy, a bit foggy.
What are the conditions like today?
It's very hazy.
It's still about seven miles visibility.
However, there's a lot of traffic coming and going.
And that, you know, trying to watch traffic and do your search too.
It keeps you busy.
What kind of an altitude are you flying during a search?
1,500.
1,500 feet?
Yeah.
And how, with the planes that you're flying, how much time have you got in the air before you've got to get back to the airport?
We can fly six hours.
Six hours.
And what kind of a search grid?
Did you have a search grid laid out of a certain amount of camera?
Well, we did a grid on the island, but with the island as such as it is, we can cover the whole thing in a pattern.
Right.
So your job there at this point is done?
Are you standing by to wait for further instructions?
We've got further instructions and I can't give you those at this time.
Okay.
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Stanley of the Civil Air Patrol, we appreciate your talking to us.
If Kelly Tuthill is still standing by, if you could put her back on the phone for us, we'd appreciate that.
Thank you, sir.
Sure, thank you.
So they searched that area of the island itself, which makes sense, obviously, in case the plane attacked and got down there.
Go ahead.
Going back to what you had, you said you heard rumors of an attack west of... That's correct, yes.
I saw the Coast Guard out there.
That's the only thing I got that would hint in that direction.
Okay.
Yeah.
There are reports that there were radar contacts within a few miles west of the vineyard.
Yeah.
Okay.
So you did see Coast Guard vessels out there searching?
Not vessels.
Helicopters.
Coast Guard helicopters.
Yeah.
Okay.
Very good.
Okay.
Thank you, sir.
Sure.
Thanks.
Kelly, what else have you learned from down there?
Is there any other indication of increased activity or any other indication of family members or reaction from people at the airport?
No, certainly a lot of activity.
I mean, since I've been talking to you this morning, this has really become a hotbed of activity with people trying to get information about the surge.
There's a lot of reporters here, as you can imagine.
Trying to get information and what we're seeing is more of these civil air patrols.
I told you earlier about the Suffolk County, New York pilots who had flown up from Long Island to check the airways and the waterways from that area to Martha's Vineyard and then they were heading back and they should have left a few minutes ago to head back to Long Island and continue their search.
So I don't know if you've got to ask Lieutenant Colonel this question, but I asked him now, we keep hearing about this area near Martha's Vineyard.
Does that mean they're only focusing on this area or that these focus, and he said that's not his impression.
He's not the coordinator, obviously, for whole search, but he said because there was no flight plan, they're searching
everywhere.
I mean, they're just checking everything because they're not exactly sure where this plane could be.
Right.
And that's our indication, too, is that that search that we talked about off Montauk Point is continuing at this hour as well, over about a 300-plus square nautical mile area, which is a huge area to search for a small plane, obviously.
All right, Kelly, thank you.
We'll let you go and try to find some other folks there, and we appreciate all your efforts down there.
and we do have also a lot of a rather than i have a sport of the kennedy
compound where the uh... wedding of the camp will get to her just a moment we
mentioned before as well the president clinton issued a statement today earlier
uh... about their concern about the uh... reports of uh...
the plane missing the president was informed earlier this morning of the
report disappearance in the last line of his
uh... comment this morning to a spokesman were these all
All our prayers and thoughts are with the families of those on board.
Initially there was some confusion as to who exactly was on board.
We believed initially there was a fourth person on board who we thought was a flight instructor.
But it's been confirmed now that there were only three people on board.
John F. Kennedy Jr.
who was flying the aircraft.
He was the licensed pilot on board.
His wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, who you can see there just to the left of him on your screen, and her sister, Lauren.
So there were three of them on this plane.
It's a four-seater single-engine plane, but there were three of them on board, and in fact, Another pilot at the airport in New Jersey had happened to see them get on the plane last night, and said that when they took off, the conditions were much less unfavorable, that they were hazy and foggy, and still within the realm of visual flight rules, but not optimum conditions, especially to be flying over
The ocean, or the sound, where it's critical to maintain some sort of element of the horizon and the possibility of being lost or disoriented does exist even with the sophisticated equipment that most of these planes have on board at this point.
We continue to monitor this.
There were supposed to be 275 people joining the Kennedy family for a celebration at the compound in Uh, Hyannis Ford today for the marriage of Rory Kennedy, as we've said, the youngest of Robert Kennedy Jr.'
's, Robert Kennedy's children.
And that has been postponed as the Kennedy family waits for word.
And an interesting wrinkle that we heard earlier was that the Kennedy family issued a statement, the one statement they've issued today, saying that they do not believe, or at least there's some confusion as to whether or not JFK Jr.
was in fact licensed to fly this type of plane under these type of conditions.
Uh, at this time.
So, we're still trying to sort that out because we know he had, from all other reports, a VFR license.
Um, had gotten that through training in Florida, but at this point we don't know exactly why the Kennedy family has issued a statement to the contrary of that.
Susan from the newsroom, again with more information as it comes in.
Susan?
Anthony, as we've been telling you this morning, this search effort is being headquartered at the Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.
Lieutenant Colonel Doug McCoy is the public information officer who joins me on the phone.
Lieutenant Colonel, thank you for being with us.
Please give us an update on the search.
We're searching as much as we can with all the assets we have available all along the presumed flight path from Essex County Airport from which he took off to the presumed destination of Martha's Vineyard.
So we've got right now about 15 Civil Air Patrol aircraft involving 156 people looking in a very disciplined way in a very busy airspace area.
That's over Long Island Sound and along the south coast of Long Island, of course, all along the flight path up around Martha's Vineyard.
So it's a busy time then.
The Coast Guard is also involved.
Searching on the water and along the shore and out as far as they can go.
So it's a very busy time.
One thing I might add is we're concerned about the amount of air traffic in the area.
That's being closely coordinated.
The search effort is being closely coordinated by an Air Force Air National Guard unit out of New York.
A flying command post, if you will.
So we caution against folks flying out there just to look.
It's a busy airspace.
Cougar, you described it as a disciplined search.
What exactly does that mean?
Well, searching for a downed airplane or a hiker or anything, it takes a lot of training
and the Civil Air Patrol is trained specifically how to do that.
I believe it is.
They fly kind of a grid pattern.
There's a lot of coordination, talk back and forth, because they don't want to miss any square footage when they're looking.
And so it takes a lot of control and a lot of training and a lot of discipline.
It's my understanding that you're searching a 373 square mile area, and to do it successfully and completely one time, it's about a three hour endeavor.
Is that true?
I haven't heard that data, so I can't confirm that.
Can you tell us, has there been any communication of any sort, radar, beacon, or otherwise, from this plane since it took off last night?
I cannot say what's available.
What I can say, though, is that the FAA and the Air Force are consolidating their radar data, and as the data comes in and we have more information to work with, the search will be refined.
But that's as far as I can go on that.
Can you confirm that, in fact, the plane in question was located on radar just west of Martha's Vineyard last night?
I can't confirm that.
I'm sorry.
Can you tell me, have you found anything at all in the water?
I don't know.
I have not heard that.
Has there been any indication of any debris from anything that possibly could be a downplane?
I have not heard anything like that here at the Rescue Coordination Center.
If that information is out there, it hasn't come to me.
It is not out there.
I'm simply asking.
And I don't want anyone to think that in fact that it is out there.
We're just curious because We want to know, of course, if anything at all has been located and if there's any reason that any particular spot of your search is more important to you than another at this point.
No, we've got a big area to cover and we haven't started to refine the search yet.
As a professional, sir, and from what you have heard, is it at all possible, is there any optimism that there is a plain in the water where there perhaps are people holding on for dear life?
If I were to go there, I would be speculating, and that would be a disservice to the people flying that airplane, and so I don't want to do that.
And at this point, how long will this search continue?
The search, you know, we're in for the long haul.
We'll search as long as we need to until we have an outcome.
What exactly does that mean?
Forgive my ignorance, but I'm not familiar.
Does it change after dark?
Do you just go indefinitely?
Is there any type of a cutoff time?
My understanding of the rescue process is that there will be a time when enough data is gathered and established to make a decision to call off a rescue.
But every circumstance is different.
And so to say that this is going to last 48 hours or 72 hours or a week, I can't go there at this point.
If something is discovered, what will the process be?
In other words, what's the chain of command and how will we be notified?
If something is discovered, we will try to let people know.
Right now, we're just taking a ton of media calls and calls from concerned citizens, and as soon as we have more definitive detail, we'll let all the right people know and go from there.
Lieutenant Colonel Doug McCoy, is there anything that I didn't ask you that you can add this morning to this search?
Just to repeat, the search airspace is very, very busy.
There's a lot of airplanes in the air.
It also happens to be in the area where that's the approach to JFK.
So if there are those out there that are wanting to fly into the area just because they want to kind of look around, I would caution them against that.
That would not help our efforts at all.
You bring up an interesting point though.
Is the Air Force contacting other commercial pilots to keep their eyes open as well?
Commercial aviators have what they call emergency locator transmitter radio, I've lost the term here, that will allow them to pick up a beacon if there is one out there.
So, within reason, and the FAA is involved, within reason, people are being notified to kind of keep their eyes open.
Have any flights of a commercial nature, or private nature for that matter, been postponed or canceled because of this search?
I am not aware of that.
Lieutenant Colonel Doug McCoy, thank you so much for talking with us this morning.
We will be getting back to you, hopefully, within the next hour for an update.
And as you just heard, folks, the search is continuing in several ways on several fronts.
They're calling it a massive search.
15 aircraft, 156 people involved in a search that they are calling disciplined, which means that they are flying in a grid pattern, checking every square mile of the 373 in question between The airport in New Jersey and Martha's Vineyard, the plane having taken off last night at 8.45 for a 90 minute flight that did not at 10 o'clock land as many people expected it would.
It was at that time that the FAA was notified and so the Air National Guard and the search is being centered and coordinated from the Langley Air Force Base.
At one o'clock this afternoon, the Pentagon has scheduled a press conference.
Hopefully we'll have more information, but as you just heard, from the public information officer for the Air Force at Langley.
At this point, there is no indication that they have found anything as they continue searching the waters between New Jersey and Martha's Vineyard.
Anthony?
All right, Susan.
Thank you.
It's interesting, irony, obviously, that part of this search area is the approach to JFK Air Force, of all things, and Perhaps complicating matters a little bit for the flight paths of planes coming into that airport and for the searchers who are flying their grid patterns over this 373 square mile area.
Of course, you know, you hear stories frequently about survival at sea in the case of a sailing vessel that may go over and people who survive in a life raft for sometimes months at a time in some of the most adverse conditions.
In a small plane, obviously, you're not talking about having a life raft.
Maybe there's a life vest, and maybe part of the debris floats and helps you.
But the chances, obviously, one would think of surviving a plane crash at sea for an extended period of time would be extraordinarily difficult, whereas in some other circumstances, perhaps in a sailboat or something like that, you might have a little more time and a little more chance.
We mentioned that Wedding of Rory Kennedy, excuse me, has been postponed today, and Amaya Barretta is at the Hyannis Fort compound where that wedding was scheduled to take place.
Amaya?
Yes, good afternoon, Anthony.
Not too much has changed since I talked to you about an hour ago, except that a few more people have gathered.
Many of them folks from the media, reporters, photographers gathered here.
And there are also some neighbors and some volunteers who have gathered here.
I've spoken with them and they're just kind of hanging out outside on the street, outside the compound here.
They've had to walk in because police details have closed off the road to traffic, but in any event, they have come to, as they say, give some support to the family.
It's another One of those terrible waiting times for the family that we've known about so much.
Or they say that, many of them say, especially the older ones, they remember, you know, the happy days, have followed the family since JFK was in the White House.
And they feel the pull of the Kennedy mystique, if you will, of the Kennedy family, and feel a sense that they need to come over here and watch and see.
And all of them, of course, saying that they're hoping for good news.
As far as activity in the compound, we are quite a distance from the houses, quite a distance from the tent that has been set up for originally for what was going to be a wedding here.
I recall that about a half an hour ago, a mass was set here.
There are three priests here at the compound, including the priest that was supposed to be officiating
at the wedding this afternoon.
And we are told that those members of the family and any friends or close people close to the family
who are here attended now, presumably to wait for the healthy and good return
of John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, and his sister-in-law, that they may be found alive and safe.
So that's about all that's going on from here.
We have been able to see some members of the family, but the most recognizable person is Ethel Kennedy.
So that's about all that's going on from here.
We have been able to see some members of the family.
The most recognizable person is Ethel Kennedy.
That's what we've seen, and there have been some hugs that we can see from a distance.
But they are not coming out and talking to us.
Not yet, at any rate.
Joe Kennedy, the former congressman, was here for about an hour this morning, and he left about a half an hour ago.
We are not being told where he went.
I guess our best guess could be that he has flown over to Martha's Vineyard, as I understand.
The search has been concentrated now over there.
But that is only a guess.
We are not being told where he has gone.
and Senator Ted Kennedy is here at the compound as well.
So Anthony, that's the scene from here.
All right, Amalia, thank you. We'll continue to check back with you.
We mentioned earlier the President has been apprised of the situation since early this morning,
has been monitoring the situation since early this morning.
We also have been told that the Pentagon is planning a press briefing in about half an hour or so,
around 1 o'clock, presumably to talk about the efforts of the Air Force in all of this.
We go now to Marty Johnson, who is live at our Washington bureau,
with more information on exactly the Washington response and how the President is being apprised of what's happening
here in Massachusetts.
Marty?
That's right, Anthony.
This is a very anxious time here in Washington.
White House Chief of Staff John Podesta says that Mr. Clinton was informed of the disappearance of the plane carrying John F. Kennedy Jr.
and his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, at about 7 this morning.
He is said to be very concerned.
He is spending the weekend at Camp David in Western Maryland, there to relax and meet with Israel's Prime Minister.
Although there have been no plans announced for the President to return, he is said to be very concerned, monitoring the situation.
The White House statement, which I have right here, says all their prayers and thoughts are with the families of those on board the plane.
The White House confirmed that Mr. Clinton today called Carolyn Kennedy Schlossberg, John F. Kennedy Jr.' 's sister, his uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy, of course, and Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, who is married to Carrie Kennedy, a cousin of John F. Kennedy Jr.
The statement further said that the President is being kept fully apprised and informed of the search by the Coast Guard, the FAA, The Department of Transportation, the Department of Defense.
Of course, as you mentioned, this afternoon the Pentagon will be briefing reporters here in Washington at about 1 o'clock.
We expect to hear more then about the status of the search going on in the area.
On a personal note, of course, Mr. Clinton has been very close with the Kennedys over the years.
We all remember the pictures, of course, that seemed to be so prevalent all the way through his first campaign of him shaking hands with the 35th President.
And, of course, More recently, pictures of him shaking hands with that president's son, John Kennedy Jr., and meeting his young bride as well.
That's the situation here in Washington, Anthony.
Of course, again, we'll be keeping an eye on that press briefing at 1 o'clock and be back with you with more.
Anthony?
Hi, Marty.
Thank you.
You know, as we sit here and we look at the various monitors that we have to monitor the network news feeds and our competitors as well, I'm struck by the fact that ever since about 9 or 10 o'clock this morning, All of our colleagues at the networks and our competitors here in this market as well have all been on the air with non-stop coverage of this.
And Clark, you and I were talking before about it's a testament to some extent to the intense interest with this family, the intense legacy of the 35th President of the United States, and the intense scrutiny as well under which this family has lived and continues to live.
Well, may so by the fact that such as this, a family like no other in American history, Uh, that seems to get into situations is drawn by whatever kind of people have used words like curses and mystical interventions and destiny and all these other fancy words that try to explain what can somehow not be explained.
This is a family that has been attracted to the flame.
There's no question about it.
They want to be out there.
They stick their necks out there.
They stick their chins out there.
They take chances.
They are daring.
They are reckless sometimes.
And it seems to be a passion with them, a desperate need.
Not just politically, certainly some members of the family have exhibited this in combat, in military situations.
We've seen it in business, in all sorts of ways.
And this is what makes them so, what causes us to be so deeply fascinated by them
and why we pivot so on every event like this.
It is, in this sense of the word, one uses this word reluctantly, but there's no better word.
This is a unique family in this sense of the word.
Okay, we're going to go to Susan Warnecke, then Indra, who has some breaking information.
Susan?
We have been told by the Coast Guard that in fact there is now evidence of a last communication
last night with JFK Jr.
's plane as it was making an approach to Martha's Vineyard Airport.
Petty Officer Todd Bergun joins us from the Coast Guard base in Boston.
He is the Petty Officer and the Public Information Officer.
Thank you for being with us, sir.
What can you tell us about this last communication with JFK Jr.' 's plane?
All I really know at this time is that it was at 9.39 p.m.
and it was with the FAA and it was...
And that's where the tape was cut, ladies and gentlemen.
It skips five hours and goes right into the six o'clock news.
Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA, which is bringing a boat from Montauk, and that boat should be here around eight o'clock.
And as Susan mentioned, that boat has sophisticated sonar equipment that can search the bottom of the ocean.
And in this particular area, the ocean is really only about 26 to 100 feet deep.
That's not significant, really, in terms of depth.
And we'll also give a very A sound, a sonar image back to that NOAA boat.
Coast Guard officials will search until dark, they say.
After that, they're hoping to get that NOAA vessel with its sonar working a search grid and hoping to find some sort of information between now and the morning hours.
Reporting live from Coast Guard Headquarters, I'm Anthony Everett, NewsCenter 5.
Chet and Heather, back to you.
Anthony, all right, thank you.
And the Admiral and Admiral Araby said that they would schedule another news conference later on this evening should developments warrant, should they find some additional and significant, more significant pieces.
You're listening now to the 6 o'clock news.
It skipped five hours from the time the tape was cut right up to the 6 o'clock news.
It may not be true that there was actually no radio communication with JFK Jr.' 's plane after it left New Jersey.
We hope that perhaps there was some radio communication.
Now listen carefully folks, as the news anchor denies, as they deny the communication.
Anthony, alright, thank you, and the Admiral Admiral Larabee said that they would schedule another news conference later
on this evening should developments warrant, should they find some
additional and significant, more significant pieces of that airplane,
they'll update us with another news conference.
Another thing he said that was a bit discouraging was something we had thought earlier may not be true, that there was actually no radio communication with JFK Jr.' 's plane after it left New Jersey.
We had hoped that perhaps there was some radio communication, of course, most recently at Martha's Vineyard this last night at about 9 o'clock, 9.30, when perhaps things started to go wrong.
We had hoped we could learn from that, but it seems that there may be no evidence because there may be no recording to listen to to get those details from.
All right, Heather, NewsCenter 5 at 6 begins now.
Live from NewsCenter 5, this is a special report.
We are still in the search and rescue phase and I want to underscore that.
The importance of us doing a thorough search out there is what we're focused on and we're going to do everything we can to continue to investigate the current information on future debris and to continue to search for survivors.
The Coast Guard holds out hope for survivors after the apparent crash of a small airplane carrying John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, and sister-in-law.
Our coverage continues now at 6 with more on this very disturbing story that's been developing all day long off of Martha's Vineyard.
The Coast Guard continues the search at this hour for the small single-engine plane that was carrying John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and Carolyn's sister, Lauren Bessette.
The search area has now been narrowed greatly.
It is centered about 17 miles southwest of Martha's Vineyard.
The plane was to have landed at Martha's Vineyard to drop off Mrs. Kennedy's sister.
And then it was to travel on to Hyannisport for the wedding this evening of JFK Jr.' 's cousin, Rory.
So far today, crews and residents have found luggage belonging to Lauren Bessette and several pieces of the missing airplane.
This is the second tape, folks.
This is the second tape that we obtained that has the whole thing.
well airport last night at around eight thirty and was due to arrive on marcus
vineyard anything called a set up an interview about a book i'd
written my vanity scurried to the procedure we look at the various
models of the secretary for this is the secretary that we obtained that
has uh... have the whole thing since this has the smoking gun uh... all of our
colleagues uh...
networks and our competitors here in this market as well of all the time of
year with non-stop coverage of this And Clark, you and I were talking before about it's a testament to some extent to the intense interest with this family, the intense legacy of the 35th President of the United States, and the intense scrutiny as well under which this family has led and continues to live.
Well, may so by the fact that such is this.
A family like no other in American history.
Uh, that seems to get into situations is drawn by whatever kind of people have used words like curses and mystical interventions and destiny and all these other fancy words that try to explain what can somehow not be explained.
This is a family that has been attracted to the flame.
There's no question about it.
They want to be out there.
They stick their necks out there.
They stick their chins out there.
They take chances.
They are daring.
They are reckless sometimes.
And it seems to be a passion with them, a desperate need.
Not just politically, certainly some members of the family have exhibited this in combat, in military operations, in business, in all sorts of ways.
And this is what makes them so what causes us to be so deeply fascinated by them and
why we pivot so on every event like this.
It is in this sense of the word one uses this word reluctantly but there's no better word.
This is a unique family in this sense of the word.
Okay we're going to go to Susan Warneck in the newsroom who has some breaking information.
Susan.
We have been told by the Coast Guard that in fact there is now evidence of a last communication
last night with JFK Jr.'s.
's plane as it was making an approach to Martha's Vineyard Airport.
Petty Officer Todd Bergun joins us from the Coast Guard base in Boston.
He is the Petty Officer and the Public Information Officer.
Thank you for being with us, sir.
What can you tell us about this last communication with JFK Jr.' 's plane?
All I really know at this time is that it was at 9.39 p.m.
and it was with the FAA and it was on its final approach to Martha's Vineyard.
All that really helps us do as far as the search is it might give us a location to search.
Because if it was that close to Martha's Vineyard with the last contact, then chances are it may be in that area.
If, in fact, it did go down.
Officer, for those of us who are not that intimately familiar with flying and piloting a plane, when you say you had radio contact, can you explain exactly what that means?
Did JFK Jr.
himself radio in that he was on a final approach?
Unfortunately, I did not have the specifics of the call.
The call came to the FAA, and I cannot speak for them on what was said.
Would that be the routine procedure, however, in a flight?
I believe it would be, yes.
So at 9.39, to the best of your information, JFK Jr.
made a contact with the airport, with the flight controllers, with the traffic controllers at Martha's Vineyard Airport, that he was on a final descent.
That is correct.
At 9.39.
We also have information that the FAA also has a radar location of 2,500 feet, about 10 miles off the vineyard, at approximately the same time.
Do you have any information?
No, I do not have any information on that.
Given that information, is it safe to assume that that would be the location of one part of the search?
Yes, it is.
That is the flag area of the search.
We are searching still the entire location between Caldwell, New Jersey and Hyannis, Massachusetts.
When you say Hyannis, and of course that includes the area around Martha's Vineyard.
Yes, but the plane was making two stops.
The plan was originally cut off from Caldwell, New Jersey at 8.38pm Friday evening.
It was scheduled to land in Martha's Vineyard at around 10pm and then scheduled to land in Hyannis at around 12.
At midnight?
Yes.
Well, that's new information because previously there was some indication that the trip to Hyannis Airport would be made this morning.
So that's new information.
The plane left New Jersey at 8.38, expected to arrive at Martha's Vineyard.
For what purpose, do you know, sir?
I do not have that information.
No.
But they were scheduled then to take off from Martha's Vineyard Airport, I would assume, at about 11 o'clock, because it certainly is no longer than about a 30-35 minute flight between Martha's Vineyard and Hyannis.
That's correct.
But I've got so much speculation, I cannot comment on... I did not leave a flight plan, so I did not have the specifics of the flight.
Can you explain for us, please, describe the search to the best as you can that the Coast Guard is involved in?
Yeah, the Coast Guard now is... We have a massive search underway, including several aircraft, from throughout the district, mainly from Coost Guard Air
Station Cape Cod, and also from several stations throughout the coast.
So it's safe for us to assume now that when the family members in Hyannis did not hear word
from the people on board the plane at midnight when they expected it to land...
Yeah, I'm not going to comment on exactly how that transpired.
I understand.
But you can comment on your search.
The last radio transmission, again, which was at 9.39, ostensibly JFK radioing the tower at Martha's Vineyard Airport that he was making his final... That's my understanding, yes.
And that's the last time the plane was heard from.
That is correct.
At approximately 2,500 feet, 10 miles offshore.
That's my understanding.
Like I said, as far as that radar location, I do not have that information.
Officer, is there anything that I failed to ask you that we should know that we do know either about the search or about the situation last night?
No, I think that covers everything we're doing.
I said we have an extensive search underway with aircraft and boats and vessels in the water, and we're searching every possible area we can.
Officer Bergen, what are the conditions right now during your search?
When you do a search like this, even though you can't talk about the particulars of this one, could you describe how it occurs?
We talked to somebody from the Langley Air Force Base.
They describe this as a disciplined search.
What exactly does that mean?
Well, basically what the Coast Guard does in a situation like this is they'll turn up the area that they're going to search, and they'll do what they call a crosshatch pattern.
They'll show you a checkerboard.
And they'll cross.
And then they make crosses.
They'll start going from point to point with their aircraft.
And same thing with the vessels in the water.
To the best of your knowledge, have they found anything at all in the water?
No, nothing at all.
How long have you been searching in the water?
Not sure the exact time.
I know it's from early hours this morning.
How long will you continue to search?
I don't have that information.
I cannot make that call right now.
How does it normally work?
What factors are involved as you determine how long a search will continue?
There's several factors that could be involved in that.
I don't want to speculate on anything.
On several searches, it depends on many different factors.
It depends on if they find anything at all.
It depends on weather conditions.
It depends on time of day.
There's several factors that could determine the length of a search.
I don't want to speculate on this search.
And as the search continues minute by minute, I assume that decisions are also being made.
That is correct.
In a similar way.
Petty Officer Todd Bergen from the Coast Guard Base in Boston, thank you very much for your time and information.
If it's alright, sir, we will check back with you within an hour or so for any updates.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you very much.
Folks, also, as we've been telling you, the Pentagon will hold a press conference at about 1 o'clock this afternoon, and the Coast Guard, unless there is reason for it sooner, will hold a press conference at 4 o'clock this afternoon.
But again, we have confirmed that at 9.39 last night, JFK did radio air traffic controllers at the Martha's Vineyard Airport, that he was making his final approach.
He was approximately 2,500 feet, 10 miles offshore.
It's the last communication or tracking Of course, as we have said, it was not heard from since 9.39 last night.
Chet Curtis joins us now as an accomplished pilot himself.
at Vignette Airport and it was expected new information at Hyannis Airport at midnight.
Of course, as we have said, it was not heard from since 9.39 last night.
Chet Curtis joins us now as an accomplished pilot himself.
Chet?
Thank you, Susan.
Heather Codd also joins me here at the anchor desk, and we'll continue to follow this story until we have some resolution.
Hopefully, they will resolve this thing pretty quickly.
They now have, as you heard, are concentrating the search to an area close to Martha's Vineyard, where JFK Jr.
last reported he was about 10 miles out and flying at 2,500 feet, which would not be unusual 10 miles away from the airport.
Lisa Stark has some information on the radar tracking that the air traffic control was doing on that flight.
So let's hear from Lisa Stark now.
We have learned that this plane took off from the Essex Airport, as you know, in Colville, New Jersey, and was flying at an altitude of 5,500 feet.
The plane then went out over the ocean, and as it was approaching the vineyard, we're told it descended to 2,500 feet.
Then there's another radar hit apparently at 2100 feet.
And then another radar hit at 1300 feet.
And that is the last radar hit, we are told, before apparently the plane disappeared off radar.
And we are told that radar hit did occur about 19 miles from the Vineyard Airport.
It may be as little as 10 miles, actually, off the coast of the Vineyard, but 19 miles from the airport.
But we are told, again, that 1,300 feet apparently is the last altitude at which that plane registered on radar, and then it was lost.
Chet, as Susan mentioned, you are an accomplished pilot.
Chet's been piloting planes now for over 20 years, so you're a very good source on this story, as well as the news gatherer.
The altitude that John F. Kennedy Jr.
was at as he was approaching Martha's Vineyard Airport, is that a normal altitude?
Is that a safe altitude?
Sure it is.
We just heard now 1,300 feet, and one thing to remember is there's so much that we don't know, and we're plugging in a lot of information here into spaces that we're not exactly sure of.
To be at 2,500 feet 10 miles out is not unusual.
510 miles out is not unusual to be at 1300 feet 627 miles out would not be unusual
He is was a decent pilot Everyone, by every measure, did not have an instrument rating.
The weather was hazy.
That does not mean that you couldn't fly in hazy weather.
I've heard some wild speculation on the radio and on television this morning.
One of the network correspondents talking about as if some people who fly little airplanes are daredevils and have a death wish.
I mean, that is definitely not the case.
That's a perfectly good, safe airplane.
It was equipped, I'm certain, with The latest avionics, probably even an autopilot, which if he had some trouble, if he punched down the autopilot, it would have kept the wings level and the aircraft at a particular altitude.
It is a small plane though, 24 feet long, you said with a 37 foot wingspan.
Searching for a plane like that is incredibly difficult.
Searching for a large aircraft.
No question.
No question.
It was difficult looking for the pieces of TWA's Flight 800, which was a 747, and there was another flight, a plane that went down off a 757.
They were difficult.
This is a Piper Saratoga, once called a Cherokee Six.
Six places.
It's a 300-horsepower engine.
That's all we have time for tonight, folks.
I have to explain a few things to you.
Remember that the search was first concentrated off Montauk Point, and the reason was that somebody had planted a transponder or beacon there, and no plane had crashed there, no boat had sunk there.
There was no reason for a beacon to be off Montauk Point, but somebody had planted one there to deliberately deceive the rescue operations.
That's where they concentrated their search.
Now, they had miles and miles of radar tapes of all the planes that were flying anywhere in that area that night, and it would have taken them days and days to go through those radar tapes in order to discover, you know, exactly if a plane dropped off the radar and when and where that happened.
It wasn't until they found out, now listen to this very carefully, because their denial
that John F. Kennedy called the tower at Martha's Vineyard is the key to this whole thing.
You see, they never would have known the right place to look if he had not made that call.
When they discovered that he had made a call to the airport tower at Martha's Vineyard
at 9.39 p.m., they instantly went to 9.39 p.m. at that position, ten miles southwest
of the lands end of Martha's Vineyard, and they immediately saw his plane on the radar
tapes at 20.
Exactly 12 seconds later it was at 1,300 feet.
exactly twelve seconds later it was at thirteen hundred feet
going from twenty five hundred feet to thirteen hundred feet in twelve seconds
means the plane was in a severe diving attitude
directly into the water at that thirteen hundred foot point was the last indication
of the plane on the radar
when they discovered that he had made that call at nine thirty nine
from that position where he reported his plane on his final glide path to the
airport at Martha's Vineyard they went to the radar
tapes found his plane on the radar tapes
MOVE THE SEARCH TO THAT EXACT POSITION AND IMMEDIATELY DISCOVERED JOHN F. KENNEDY'S BEACON THAT WAS IN THE WATER THERE, BEGAN TO SEE FLOATING DEBRIS, LUGGAGE, PIECES OF THE AIRPLANE, AN AIRPLANE TIRE, ET CETERA, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
SO THAT IS THE SMOKING GUN THAT PROVES BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT THAT THERE IS A SERIOUS COVER-UP CONNECTED WITH THIS.
WHEN YOU CALL THE TOWER AT Martha's Vineyard and attempt to talk to the person who was
on duty that night who actually received the radio call from John F. Kennedy
Jr. You are told that that person is not there, hasn't been there for a long time,
and probably will never be back. When you talk to these people that you heard
tonight on this tape at WCVB-TV in Boston, they deny that they ever made
this report.
They just flatly deny it.
We are not supposed to have this tape.
Nobody is supposed to have this tape.
We want this tape to go all over the country.
If you want a copy of this tape, send us $15 and we'll send you a copy postpaid right to your door.
Then make copies and distribute it to everybody you know so this tape can never ever be buried.
This is the key to the whole thing.
This is what solves it.
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
was murdered, ladies and gentlemen.
Two Saturdays after his plane crash, and I posted this story on the website A military officer, acting as a courier on orders from his commanding officer, brought me photographs and copies of the preliminary investigation reports based upon the wreckage and what they knew of the plane crash.
What I saw in those photographs and in those reports was that a bomb detonated in a compartment in the tail section of the plane.
The tail section was severed from the plane.
The plane went into an immediate dive and crashed into the ocean.
The cause of the detonation of the explosive was a barometric triggering device which was detonated when he flew below 2,500 feet.
And that's the story.
On the hour of the time, on this October the 13th, 1999.
Once again, the hour of the time has scooped the world.
We have given you the truth, the real story, the story you never heard and never will hear on CNN, ABC, NBC, or CBS, what we commonly refer to here as the Communist News Networks.
Good night, ladies and gentlemen.
God bless you all.
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