Twenty-five years after beloved R&B singer and actress Aaliyah tragically passed away at age 22, her boyfriend at the time, Damon “Dame” Dash, is revealing what he says were some of the final messages they exchanged before the plane crash that took her life.
Aaliyah, known for hits including “Try Again,” “Back & Forth” and “Are You That Somebody?,” was returning from the Bahamas after filming the music video for “Rock the Boat” when the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff on Aug. 25, 2001.
Dash, who was dating Aaliyah at the time, told Us Weekly that the singer contacted him before the flight and expressed concern about the aircraft she was supposed to take home.
“She texted me saying, ‘I don’t like the plane.’ I told her, ‘Don’t get on it,’” Dash recalled.
According to Dash, Aaliyah ultimately made the trip despite her concerns. He said she wanted to finish what she needed to do for the video and quickly return to him.
“She said, ‘I am just going to do this video then come right back,’” he told the outlet.
Dame Dash Says Aaliyah Was Already Afraid of Flying
Dash said Aaliyah already had a fear of flying and typically traveled with a satin pillow that she considered her good-luck pillow.
“She knew the plane wasn’t right, and she was always scared of planes,” Dash said.
Aaliyah had traveled to the Bahamas days earlier to film “Rock the Boat” with director Hype Williams. She was originally expected to stay until Aug. 26 but decided to leave a day early after completing her scenes, according to Us Weekly.
Looking back, Dash believes Aaliyah’s desire to return to him may have played a role in her decision to make the trip despite her concerns.
Questions surrounding why Aaliyah boarded the aircraft have continued in the years since the crash. In Kathy Iandoli’s biography “Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah,” Kingsley Russell claimed he witnessed the singer expressing reluctance to board the plane.
Russell, who was 13 and working for his family’s transportation company in the Bahamas at the time, alleged that Aaliyah complained of a headache before someone from her team gave her an unidentified pill. He claimed she later fell asleep and was carried onto the aircraft. The account was published years after the crash and was not established as a finding of the official investigation.
The investigation did uncover several serious problems surrounding the flight. Per reports, the aircraft exceeded its maximum takeoff weight, and the excess passengers and luggage affected its center of gravity.
Pilot Luis Antonio Morales III was also not authorized to fly the aircraft and had falsified his flight history to obtain his license, the outlet reported. A toxicology report later found cocaine and alcohol in his system.
Less than a minute after takeoff, the plane crashed near the end of the runway and caught fire. All nine people aboard were killed.
Aaliyah’s Loved Ones Remember the Star She Was Becoming
At the time of her passing, Aaliyah was expanding a career that had already made her one of R&B’s biggest young stars. Her self-titled third album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in July 2001, while her acting career included roles in “Romeo Must Die” and “Queen of the Damned.”
“Rock the Boat” was released after her passing, with its music video premiering on BET in October 2001.
Backup dancers Carmit Bachar and Lesley Nicole Lewis, who worked on the video, also reflected on their final days with Aaliyah for Us Weekly. Lewis recalled the singer telling the dancers she would see them again at upcoming rehearsals in New York.
Dash has continued to speak about the future he imagined with Aaliyah and the connection he still feels to her decades later. He described Aaliyah as his soulmate and said he believes their relationship would have continued had her life not been cut short.
“We are still together today,” Dash said. “We’ll never not be together.”
