The Day Aaliyah Died

On the Friday night of August 24th, 2001 my mom dropped me and my sisters off at the house of some new friends we made while she was showing an open house during her career as a realtor. My mom was going out of town and since me and my sisters had become good friends with all the children in the family we all came up with an idea to stay with them for that weekend. So eight kids had what you could describe as the perfect weekend hanging out together all of Friday and…Saturday, but when we woke up on Sunday morning we weren’t ready for what we were about to hear. Around 10 or maybe 11a.m. on Sunday morning we were all hanging out in the basement chillin’, and listening to the radio.

While I was talking to the boys and my sister Rudy was talking with the girls I subconsciously noticed that the radio station 102 Jams was playing songs from Aaliyah all morning long. I never questioned why or even thought about it much until Rudy caught my attention and said “Joe, Aaliyah died.” That statement was so unbelievable that I wasn’t even shocked because I didn’t think it was true. When Rudy said “Yeah she died in a plane crash” that sounded even more bizarre and unbelievable to me, but as I questioned it Rudy turned up the radio and we all started listening. Sure enough, 102 Jams host Russ Parr and Olivia Fox confirmed that this incident took place and it was in that moment that I realized why Aaliyah’s music was being played all morning long, Aaliyah had just died. All of us kids sat in that basement in utter shock and disbelief and when we went back home then to school the next day the rest of the world was just as shocked and in disbelief as we were.

By Thursday August 23rd Aaliyah was in the Bahamas filming the music video to her new song “Rock the Boat” in the area of the Abaco, Islands. Once filming for the video was complete around 6:50p.m. EST on August 25th, Aaliyah and seven other team members of her staff: hairstylist Eric Forman, make-up-stylist Christopher Maldonado, security guard Scott Gallin, friend Keith Wallace, Anthony Dodd, Blackground Records employees Douglas Kratz, Gina Smith, and pilot Luis Morales III. boarded a Cessna 402 light twin engine aircraft at Marsh Harbour, Airport in the Bahamas. They were supposed to be headed for Opa-Locka Airport in Miami, Florida.

Shortly after taking off the plane crashed 200 feet from the runway which it departed. Seven of the nine lives on board, including Aaliyah died instantly. Two of the passengers including Aaliyah’s bodyguard Scott Gallin died a short while later.

When the news of Aaliyah’s death broke to the public, fans and the world of entertainment were hit with a blast of shock and grief. It was purely unbelievable that the shining star known as Aaliyah had died. Aaliyah has been one of my biggest heroes of music my whole life. I am not ashamed to say that I cried when she passed away.

I grieved with the rest of the world when she was laid to rest and I also couldn’t let go of the story how her death unfolded. In the aftermath of her tragic loss there was so much info that came out about what exactly led to her plane’s demise. We learned that Aaliyah herself was uncomfortable with getting on the plane and was afraid that the flight was unsafe and argued with her team who were all in a rush to make it to Florida about not getting in the flight. The plane’s pilot Luis Morales had cocaine in his system, he falsified his flight experience history, he and others argued heavily with Aaliyah’s staff about the aircraft having exceeded its weight capacity, but the team was adamant about needing to leave asap as they had a tight schedule to keep. I personally found the most heart wrenching detail was that Aaliyah’s bodyguard Scott Gallin was still alive right after the crash and he was asking paramedics was Aaliyah okay.

The general consensus concerning her death is that her plane failed because the aircraft’s weight was overloaded. Of course a number of claims suggesting foul play have been theorized in recent years since it was recently revealed by witnesses who were at Marsh Harbour 22 years ago that Aaliyah was given a sedative by her fellow ill-fated crew members that put her to sleep. In a way it seems that she was put on her doomed flight against her will, insinuating foul play to many.

Maybe Aaliyah’s death was an unavoidable accident, maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it wasn’t an accident at all. I’ve certainly had my suspicions knowing what I’ve learned over the course of the past few years. Nevertheless, the tragedy that was the death of Aaliyah is still felt just as heavy today as it first was 22 years ago. Aaliyah was an amazing singer, actress and all around beautiful soul who captivated the world with her spirit. Many remember her for having the face of an angel, but way more than that, she had the heart of an angel. She was only 22 years old when she died and with today being the 22 year anniversary of her death, she has literally been dead for as long as she had been alive, and yet, her iconic spirit and the mark she left on the world has never died. Though today is one of the most tragic days in music history, it will never compare to the countless beautiful days of Aaliyah living life.

~Dedicated to the memory of Aaliyah Dana Haughton. Truly one in a million and you are always loved and missed.