--- description: The son of the 35th president was 38 years old when his plane was lost at sea title: JFK Jr: Remembering John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr 15 Years After Death image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae3c16e57e2a7507/69869bdaadae4475165442a8/jfk-jr-dies-time-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 15 Years Later: Remembering JFK Jr. by [Joan E. Greve](/author/joan-greve/) ## Joan E. Greve Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 15, 2014 10:06 PM CUT  The cover of TIME's July 26, 1999 issue: "John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. 1960-1999" The cover of TIME's July 26, 1999 issue: "John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. 1960-1999"Ken Regan—TIME by [Joan E. Greve](/author/joan-greve/) ## Joan E. Greve Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 15, 2014 10:06 PM CUT Fifteen years ago Wednesday, a shocked nation grieved as the Kennedy family [lost another one of their own](http://time.com/2989393/jfk-jr-death-anniversary/ "undefined"). John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr., 38, died in a plane crash with his wife and sister-in-law on July 16, 1999. “He was lost on that troubled night, but we will always wake for him, so that his time, which was not doubled but cut in half, will live forever in our memory and in our beguiled and broken hearts,” then-Sen. Ted Kennedy said in a eulogy for his nephew, an American icon turned magazine editor. Kennedy outlived his nephew by 10 years, passing away in 2009 after nearly a half-century in the U.S. Senate. In that same eulogy, Kennedy praised the “lifelong mutual admiration society” shared between JFK Jr. and his sister Caroline, who now serves as the United State ambassador to Japan. Kennedy was often asked whether he would further the political legacy of his father, who died when his son was only two years old. JFK Jr. once said of his father, “He inspired a lot of hope and created a sense of possibility, and then the possibility was cut short and never realized.” [Read TIME’s special 1999 cover story marking JFK Jr.’s death here.](http://time.com/2989393/jfk-jr-death-anniversary/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2988210/jfk-jr-death-plane-crash-anniversary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2988210/jfk-jr-death-plane-crash-anniversary/"},"headline":"15 Years Later: Remembering JFK Jr.","datePublished":"2014-07-15T22:06:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:09:47.552Z","description":"The son of the 35th president was 38-years-old when his plane was lost at sea","url":"https://time.com/2988210/jfk-jr-death-plane-crash-anniversary/","keywords":["History","Death","JFK","TIME","Cover","anniversary","plane","tragedy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae3c16e57e2a7507/69869bdaadae4475165442a8/jfk-jr-dies-time-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joan E. Greve","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joan-greve/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae3c16e57e2a7507/69869bdaadae4475165442a8/jfk-jr-dies-time-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"JFK Jr. TIME Cover","caption":"JFK Jr. TIME Cover","creditText":"Ken Regan—TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2988210/jfk-jr-death-plane-crash-anniversary/","name":"15 Years Later: Remembering JFK Jr."}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Remembering JFK, Jr.: 15 Years Later","description":"It’s been 15 years since John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s life was tragically cut short. Here’s a look back at the life he left behind.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Gd3DlTHF/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-24T18:23:46.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Gd3DlTHF.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/2988210/jfk-jr-death-plane-crash-anniversary/","duration":"PT2M24S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/2988210/jfk-jr-death-plane-crash-anniversary/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```