Kennedy Plane Crash

Mourners Mark 15 Years Since TWA Flight 800 Crash

On July 17, 1996, 230 people were killed when a Paris-bound 747 airliner exploded off Long Island shortly after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The incident set off a massive FBI investigation into whether a bomb or a missile took down the plane.

Investigators later determined the crash most likely resulted from an electrical spark in an empty fuel tank.

Family members were expected to gather Sunday night at Smith Point County Park in Shirley, N.Y. to honor the victims.

Frank Lombardi, a liaison for the TWA Flight 800 Family Association, said it is important to remember the tragedy every year.

"It affected thousands and thousands of people in the local community, and it is probably the most significant air crash prior to 9/11 because of the investigation, because of the recovery efforts, and it's one of those significant and major events that has happened in the Long Island community," Lombardi said.

The incident led one woman to form a group that matches mourning family members from other plane crashes to help with grief counseling.

Among those helped were more than 500 relatives of September 11th victims.

Research History » JFK Jr. Killed in Plane Crash Today in History ...

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr., was born on November 25, 1960, just a few weeks after his father and namesake was elected the 35th president of the United States. On his third birthday, “John-John” attended the funeral of his assassinated father and was photographed saluting his father’s coffin in a famous and searing image. Along with his sister, Caroline, he was raised in Manhattan by his mother, Jacqueline. After graduating from Brown University and a very brief acting stint, he attended New York University Law School. He passed the bar on his third try and worked in New York as an assistant district attorney, winning all six of his cases. In 1995, he founded the political magazine George,  magazine. He was linked romantically with several celebrities, including the actress Daryl Hannah, whom he dated for five years. In September 1996, he married girlfriend Carolyn Bessette, a fashion publicist. The two shared an apartment in New York City, where Kennedy was often seen inline skating in public. Known for his adventurous nature, he nonetheless took pains to separate himself from the more self-destructive behavior of some of the other men in the Kennedy clan.