Remembering Aaliyah THE CRASH Aaliyah, the Grammy-nominated, Video Music Award-winning singer and actress famous for hits like "Try Again" and "Are You That Somebody," was one of nine people killed in a fiery plane crash on Saturday, August 25, 2001. She was 22. Aaliyah had just wrapped filming her latest video, "Rock The Boat," on the island of Abaco in the Bahamas. She and seven passengers, including her bodyguard, her makeup artist and Virgin Records' Director of Video Production, left the Marsh Harbour airport for Opa Locka, Florida on a Cessna 402B aircraft at approximately 6:45 P.M. on August 25. The weather at the time was sunny and clear. Reuters reported local police official Leland Russell as saying "an eyewitness said the plane lifted off, climbed steeply into the air, then shortly after it banked to the left and ditched into the bushes. On impact the plane burst into flames; some of the persons on board were badly burned." Aaliyah and five others died at the scene; three others died after help arrived. THE AFTERMATH A year after Aaliyah's death, some questions remain unanswered and many loose ends remain untied. After investigating the circumstances of the crash, the Bahamas Department of Civil Aviation reported that the small plane was overloaded with luggage and cargo, making it almost 700 pounds over its maximum allowable weight. The agency also found that the plane, operated by Blackhawk International Airways (whose owner has not turned over all documents requested by investigators), had worn spark plugs and its fuel filters were corroded ? an indication that routine maintenance had not been performed. What may never be determined is what role the pilot of the plane, Luis Morales III, played in the tragedy. Luis, who also died in the crash, was later found to have cocaine and alcohol in his system when he was flying. Investigators have not yet been able to determine how, if at all, the intoxicants affected his judgment while at the helm. It was also revealed that, due to a conviction on cocaine possession charges, his pilot's license was in the process of being revoked and he was not authorized to fly the plane. In the wake of the accident, a flurry of lawsuits have been filed by victims' families. The docket includes one filed by Aaliyah's parents, who accuse not only Blackhawk International Airways, but also Virgin Records, of negligence. A Nassau funeral home also claims that Virgin has reneged on a verbal agreement to cover the $68,000 funeral expense bill for the victims, which remains unpaid. Virgin Records has not commented on the issue. A MAJOR TALENT CUT DOWN IN HER PRIME At 22, Aaliyah was already a music industry veteran; she was just beginning to make her mark on the movie world. She was born in Brooklyn and moved to Detroit when she was five. After appearing in several productions at Gesu Elementary and Performing Arts High School, she released her first single, "Back And Forth," at 15. It went to #1 and was the first in a string of successes for the singer. Most recently, her third album, Aaliyah, debuted at #2 on the Billboard Album Chart and was named by many critics as one of the best of the year. Aaliyah branched out into acting with the movie Romeo Must Die. She earned two MTV Movie Award nominations for her portrayal of tough girl Trish O'Day and went on to film Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned, which was released in February 2002. She was scheduled to appear in The Matrix parts 2 and 3 as Zee, a native of Zion whose boyfriend flies the ship that carries Neo, Morpheous and Trinity. In a online chat less than a month before her death, she told TeenPeople.com that she did a couple weeks of filming in June and was scheduled to return to Australia to finish in January 2002. Since she wasn't done shooting her scenes, she has been replaced in the sequels by Nona Gaye. A PRIVATE PERSON, A PUBLIC DEATH In an industry where so many personal lives are on display, Aaliyah valued her privacy above most things. For years, she refused comment on her teenage marriage to singer R. Kelly, who worked with her on her first album, Age Ain't Nothing But A Number (Aaliyah was underage at the time and the marriage was quickly annulled). And she didn't speak publicly about her boyfriend at the time of her death, Roc-A-Fella Records chief Damon Dash. "When you're in this business, everything is in the public eye," she said in a TeenPeople.com chat. "That's cool, that's fine, but you just want to have something for you." Sadly, Aaliyah died a very public death far too early. MORE ON AALIYAH Read the transcript from Aaliyah's July 2001 chat in TeenPeople.com's Chat Transcript Archives. A journalist reminisces about Aaliyah at Time.com.