Phone Conversation Between Tower Intern, AFSS Dispatch

A brief audio tape released this week shows the confusion present in the control tower at Martha's Vineyard Airport the night of July 16, 1999 -- when a Piper Saratoga II piloted by John F. Kennedy, Jr. crashed.

The Associated Press reports the Department of Transportation released the recording Tuesday. Broadcasters filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request shortly after the accident.

The audio tape -- a portion of which aired on Boston's WFXT-TV -- is a recording of a conversation between an intern working in the tower at KMVY, and an official at the Automated Flight Service Station in Bridgeport, CT. Adam Budd, 21, is heard quietly asking if the FAA can track the missing aircraft (similar to type shown above).

"Well, who are you?" asks the unidentified FAA worker.

"I'm with airport operations," Budd replied. The AP reports Budd did not identify which airport he was calling from, until asked by the AFSS dispatcher.

Budd then tells the AFSS worker he's seeking information on the missing Saratoga. "Actually, Kennedy Jr.'s on board," Budd says. "He's uh, they want to know, uh, where he is."

The AFSS dispatcher would not give Budd the information, however... and the intern, who typically performed clerical work at the tower, backed off.

"OK, well, if it's too much trouble, it's ... I'll just have 'em wait. ... It's not a big deal," Budd said.

That this conversation took place is not new -- a written transcript of the call was made available four days after the accident, according to the AP. The tape appears to show the lack of concrete information -- and apparently, cooperation -- between the tower and the FAA, on a night when many people were looking for answers.

Budd's call to the AFSS came in at 10:05 pm -- four hours before the Coast Guard launched a search and rescue operation, due to the forceful insistence of a Kennedy family friend.

The National Transportation Safety Board's probable cause report states Kennedy, who had been flying for 15 months and was not IFR rated, became disoriented in hazy nighttime skies. The 38-year-old son of President John F. Kennedy was killed in the crash, along with his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette.

FMI: Read The NTSB Probable Cause Report