Flight school's newsletter mentioned training Kennedy

By BILL ADAIR

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 22, 1999

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A Vero Beach flight school that trained John F. Kennedy Jr. has used his name and photograph to attract customers.

A FlightSafety International newsletter last year included a photograph of Kennedy standing in front of a plane with his instructor.

The caption read:

"JFK JR. TRAINS AT THE ACADEMY -- FlightSafety was pleased to welcome John F. Kennedy Jr. for some recent training at the Academy by special arrangement. By the end of his stay, Kennedy ... earned his Private Pilot's License."

The newsletter, the "Checklist," was printed about a year ago and sent to several thousand people, including prospective students.

Roger Ritchie, a spokesman for FlightSafety, said that Kennedy was not paid for the use of the photograph and that publishing it was not an effort to promote the company.

"It was an expression of pride rather than promotion," Ritchie said.

The newsletter has not been distributed since last year, Ritchie said.

Kennedy took his initial training at FlightSafety's academy in Vero Beach, a pricey school that allows pilots to condense their training into a few weeks of instead of having it spread out over many weekends.

The National Transportation Safety Board is examining records from Kennedy's training in Vero Beach and other locations to see how well he was trained for the conditions he encountered Friday night, when his Piper Saratoga suddenly plunged into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha's Vineyard, Mass.

Ritchie said he could not discuss details about Kennedy's training because it is part of the NTSB investigation, but he said Kennedy was treated no differently from other students.

He said the "special arrangement" mentioned in the newsletter is a reference to the academy's efforts to "maintain his anonymity during the training to prevent him from being exposed to unwanted publicity."

Ritchie emphasized that after his training, Kennedy passed a test with an examiner from the Federal Aviation Administration. Also, FlightSafety did not provide Kennedy with training for the Piper Saratoga that crashed Friday, Ritchie said.

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