John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. (November 25, 1960 – July 16, 1999), often referred to as John-John or JFK Jr., was an American attorney, magazine publisher, and journalist. He was a son of 35th United States president John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

Kennedy wanted to become a pilot since he was a child. He took flying lessons at the Flight Safety Academy in Vero Beach, Florida and received his pilot's license in April 1998. The death of his cousin Michael in a skiing accident had prompted John to take a hiatus from his piloting lessons for three months. His sister Caroline hoped this would be permanent but when he resumed she did little to stop him.

On July 16, 1999, Kennedy departed from Fairfield, New Jersey at the controls of his Piper Saratoga light aircraft. He was traveling with his wife Carolyn and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette. Lauren was to be dropped off at Martha's Vineyard and Kennedy and his wife would continue on to Hyannis Port, Massachusetts to attend the wedding of his cousin Rory Kennedy. He had purchased the plane from Air Bound Aviation on April 28. Carolyn and Lauren were passengers sitting in the second row of seats. Kennedy had checked in with the control tower at the Martha's Vineyard Airport but the plane was reported missing after it failed to arrive on schedule.

Officials were not hopeful about finding survivors after aircraft debris and a black suitcase belonging to Bessette were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean. President Bill Clinton gave his support to the Kennedy family during the search for the three missing passengers.

On July 18, a Coast Guard admiral declared an end to the rescue efforts. Within the next two days, the fragments of Kennedy's plane were found by NOAA vessel Rude using side-scan sonar, subsequently prompting Navy divers to descend into the 62 °F (17 °C) water. They found part of the shattered plane strewn over a broad area of seabed 120 feet (37 m) below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. The search ended in the late afternoon of July 21 when high-resolution images of the ocean bottom helped Navy divers recover the three bodies from the ocean floor. The bodies were taken by motorcade to the county medical examiner's office. Divers found Carolyn's and Lauren's bodies near the twisted and broken fuselage while Kennedy's body was still strapped into the pilot's seat. Admiral Richard M. Larrabee of the Coast Guard said that all three bodies were "near and under" the fuselage, still strapped in.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that pilot error was the probable cause of the crash: "Kennedy's failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation."

Later that evening, the bodies were autopsied at the county medical examiner's office and taken from Hyannis to Duxbury, Massachusetts, where they were cremated in the Mayflower Cemetery crematorium. The families announced their plans for memorial services the same day. The autopsy determined that the crash victims had died upon impact. Ted Kennedy favored a public service for John, while Caroline Kennedy insisted on family privacy. On the morning of July 22, their ashes were scattered at sea from the Navy destroyer USS Briscoe off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.

A memorial service was held for Kennedy on July 23, 1999 at the Church of St. Thomas More in New York City, a parish that Kennedy had often attended with his mother and sister. The invitation-only service was attended by hundreds of mourners, including President Bill Clinton, who presented the family with photo albums of John and Carolyn on their visit to the White House from the previous year.

Kennedy's last will and testament stipulated that his personal belongings, property, and holdings were to be "evenly distributed" among his sister Caroline’s three children – Rose, Tatiana, and Jack – who were among fourteen beneficiaries in his will. A scrimshaw set that belonged to his father, President Kennedy, was left to his nephew Jack.