SINGER Aaliyah was at the top of her career when her life was cut tragically shot.
The 22-year-old pop star died after the plane she was travelling in crashed.
When was Aaliyah in a plane crash?
On August 25, 2001, a Cessna 402 twin-engine light aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Marsh Harbour Airport on the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas.
Aaliyah and her entourage were onboard the vessel after they they had just completed filming of a music video and had chartered the flight to return to Florida.
The following investigation determined that the aircraft had attempted to take off while heavily overloaded – the eight passengers exceeded its certified maximum of seven.
It also emerged that the pilot did not have the required qualifications to fly the aircraft type involved and had falsified relevant documents to obtain his pilot license.
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What happened to Aaliyah?
Aaliya was killed instantly in the crash aged just 22-years-old.
She was scheduled to leave the Bahamas on August 26, 2001 but chose to leave the day before since she had finished early.
That been concerns from the pilot that there was too much weight on the aircraft, but it was decided that the plane would leave anyway.
Who else died in the plane crash?
The crash killed the pilot and all eight passengers on board.
Along with Aaliyah, those killed were members of her entourage, including her hairdresser, her bodyguard and a record executive.
The other passenger, a security guard, died shortly afterwards and, according to paramedics, spent his last moments worrying about Aaliyah’s condition.
One witness told investigators: “It was an awful sight. Some bodies were so badly disfigured, you couldn’t identify them.
“And two guys were alive — one screaming and screaming for help. He was horribly burned all over.”
A pilot who witnessed the crash saw the Cessna go down as he was working on some machinery “about half a mile” away.
He told the investigation that the aircraft was only “60 to 100 feet” off the ground before it crashed.
He went to get a fire truck and was stunned by what he saw upon arriving at the crash site, and said “It was pretty devastating. The aircraft was broken into pieces and some of the seats were thrown from the aircraft.”