Aaliyah reportedly had reservations about the aircraft that would ultimately claim her life, telling former boyfriend Damon “Dame” Dash she did not want to get on the plane shortly before it crashed in the Bahamas.
Dash made the claim in a new interview with Us Weekly, published Tuesday, August 25, marking the 25th anniversary of the singer’s death.
“She texted me saying, ‘I don’t like the plane.’ I told her, ‘Don’t get on it,’” Dash recalled.
Aaliyah, who was 22, had been in the Bahamas filming the music video for “Rock the Boat”. She was due to fly back to Florida after filming.
“However, she said she had to do it for the video,” Dash said.
According to Dash, Aaliyah was already nervous about flying and would travel with a “satin pillow” that she considered her good-luck charm.
“She knew the plane wasn’t right, and she was always scared of planes,” he said.
Dash also suggested Aaliyah may have been eager to get home quickly. “She said, ‘I am just going to do this video then come right back,’” he recalled.
The account echoes details included in Kathy Iandoli’s 2022 biography Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah. According to an eyewitness cited in the book, Aaliyah voiced concerns about the aircraft before the flight and was reportedly given a pill by a member of her team after complaining of a headache.
Transportation worker Kingsley Russell told investigators that Aaliyah was carried onto the twin-engine Cessna 402B while apparently asleep at around 6:50 p.m. on August 25, 2001.
Eight other people were aboard, including Aaliyah’s bodyguard Scott Gallin, members of her glam team Anthony Dudd, Christopher Maldonado and Eric Forman, music executives Gina Smith and Douglas Kratz, and friend Keith Wallace. The pilot was Luis Antonio Morales.
An investigation later found that Morales was not approved to fly the aircraft and had alcohol and cocaine in his system. The plane was also overloaded by around 700 pounds, with the weight improperly distributed.
The aircraft crashed less than a minute after takeoff and caught fire, killing everyone on board.
Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat” video was released in October 2001, two months after her death.
Her parents, Michael and Diane Haughton, later sued Instinct Productions, the company responsible for coordinating transportation during the Bahamas shoot. The case was settled for an undisclosed amount in 2003.
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Last modified: August 28, 2026
