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American singer, model, and actress Aaliyah passed away in a tragic plane crash in August 2001 and the moments leading up to the singer's death have been recently revealed by her former backup dancer, Lesley Nicole. Nicole appeared on Shawn Stockman's On That Note podcast on April 9, 2025.
At one point in the video, Nicole talked about working with Aaliyah and how she got to be a part of the late singer's More Than A Woman and Rock The Boat music videos . She recalled that the crew had to fly to the Bahamas to shoot the video for Rock The Boat and that:
"Flying to the Bahamas we said all of this for an 8 count, like the planes felt sketchy because they were smaller planes... Walking on the tarmac to these small planes to get us to Bahamas, something was just like..."
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Talking about her memory of the late singer from the shoot, Nicole said:
"Aaliyah was adamant about getting back, she was like 'No I'm going to go but I'll see you guys in like New York for the next rehearsal'. Anybody that had that urgency to get back like the security guard that I mentioned, they got on the plane and unfortunately that was the last time I saw her."
More details about the tragic plane crash that claimed Aaliyah's life explored
Aaliyah passed away in a 2001 plane accident in the Bahamas owing to the crash of Cessna 402B moments after takeoff. The plane had a small twin engine and had been carrying the singer with 8 others including her record executive, hairdresser, and pilot.
As per PEOPLE's report dated January 2025, the wings of Cessna 402B "shattered on impact" and the landing gear and engineer were torn off, resulting in Aaliyah and 5 other passengers dying instantly. The other 3 passengers passed away due to injuries the next day. The pathologist who performed autopsies on everyone aboard the plane cited "severe burns and a blow to the head" as the late singer's cause of death.
Additionally, the pathologist concluded that the pilot, Luis Antonio Morales, had traces of alcohol in his stomach and cocaine in his urine. The pilot was sentenced to probation for possession of cocaine two weeks before the incident and he wasn't certified to fly the Cessna 402B and was hired by the charter company shortly before the crash.
Investigations concerning the late singer's demise in a plane crash were concluded with officials stating that the twin-engine plane was overloaded by 700 pounds when it took off from the Bahamas.
Aaliyah's demise left her fans, crew, and family in shock wherein her parents Michael and Diane Haughton filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the video production company behind the Rock The Boat music video. It was the company, Instinct Productions, that coordinated transport to and from the Bahamas.
