Aaliyah Reportedly Did Not Want To Board Fatal Flight, Was Given Pill To Knock Her Out
Aug. 1 2021, Published 3:44 p.m. ET
A new book claims the late singer Aaliyah hesitated to get on to the plane that ultimately crashed and took her life.
The bombshell revelations are set to be included in author Kathy Iandoli’s new book, Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah. Iandoli has worked with everyone from Billboard, Rolling Stone to Vice. For the book, she spoke to numerous close associates of the Try Again singer.
Aaliyah tragically passed away at the age of 22. She was flying from Abaco Islands to Miami with a group of eight. The details of the crash have been spotty at best.
Over the years, officials have presented numerous explanations for the cause of the crash. It is believed the singer’s team got into an argument with the pilot over the plane being overweight. Her team reportedly refused to board until items were taken off.
Officials say the small plane had cargo that caused it to exceed its maximum weight limit. Further, the items were not evenly distributed which made the plane unable to fly correctly.
A toxicology report reportedly found the pilot had alcohol and cocaine in his system. Close friends of Aaliyah found it hard to believe she would board the flight.
The singer was known to be a nervous flyer and already had a scheduled flight the next day. Iandoli spoke to a man named Kingsley Russell from the Abaco Islands.
Russell made a YouTube video after Kobe Bryant’s death where he recalled the day Aaliyah died. He deleted the post, but Iandoli was able to speak to him about his claims. He told the author that Aaliyah had been given a pill by a member of her team.
He said she had to be carried on to the flight. Russell claims that Aaliyah had been protesting getting on the flight prior to taking the pill.
He said, “I remember when Aaliyah passed away, I was really upset. The story kept saying that she was adamant about getting on the plane. I was almost upset with her. Why did you want to get on that plane so badly? I remember wrestling with this, being like, ‘Well, she wanted to get back to Damon Dash, she wanted to be with her team, and who wouldn’t want their stuff with them?’”
The book is set to be released on August