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Doves Fly At Aaliyah's Funeral.
NEW YORK -- A horse-drawn glass carriage brought the casket carrying pop star Aaliyah to an Upper East Side church Friday for a funeral service.
Afterward, Aaliyah's mother stood a few feet from the casket in tears and released a single white dove into the sky. Within seconds, another 21 doves were released -- one for each year of the singer's life.
Celebrities including Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, Gladys Knight and Mike Tyson were among those who attended the private farewell.
More than 1,000 fans stood outside the St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church and cheered as the mourners walked in behind the cream-colored casket. When the casket was brought out after the service, fans sang one of Aaliyah's songs.
A public memorial service continued throughout the day in New York. Fans paid respect while a continuous loop of Aaliyah's videos, performances and music was presented at Cipriani's 42nd St., 110 E. 42nd St., New York.
U.S. and Bahamian aviation officials continued to search for clues into what may have caused the Cessna to go down. But an independent expert says new figures show that the plane carrying singer Aaliyah was overweight when it crashed in the Bahamas.
John Frank of the Cessna Pilots Association says the weight probably caused the pilot to lose control.
Frank commented after the Bahamas' Civil Aviation Department released its first report describing the weight of the plane.
It said the estimated weight of the plane, including luggage and fuel, was about 55-hundred pounds at takeoff, not including the weight of the occupants and one lost bag.
The maximum authorized takeoff weight for the Cessna 402-B is 6,300 pounds.
The investigators say both of the plane's engines appear to have been working when the plane went down shortly after takeoff.
Meanwhile, authorities said Thursday that the pilot of the plane carrying Aaliyah faced a crack-cocaine violation less than two weeks ago.
Pilot Luis Antonio Morales Blanes' record became known Wednesday. Broward County, Florida prosecutors say the 30-year-old Morales received three years of probation for a series of allegations, including the drug charge.
Morales also was sentenced for trying to peddle worth of stolen airplane parts last year and for allegedly stealing a model airplane and tool box. That's according to prosecutors' spokesman Ron Ishoy.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen says Morales didn't have federal authorization to fly the twin-engine Cessna. He hadn't been listed as the pilot for the plane.
National Transportation Safety Board official George Prellezo said that the investigation could take at least three months. He says the small Cessna aircraft didn't carry flight recorders, making it tougher to find out what went wrong. But he says investigators are confident that they can reconstruct the flight and pinpoint a cause.
Fans and music industry giants paid tribute throughout the week to the R&B singer and actress who was born in Brooklyn and raised in Detroit.
The 22-year-old star was remembered Tuesday at the "Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards" show in Santa Monica. Calif. Singer-actor Tyrese said what brings peace to his heart is that Aaliyah "was able to do what she loved to do."
On Monday night, mourners held a candle-light vigil
for Aaliyah outside of the Detroit High School for Fine and Performing Arts where she was reportedly a 4.0 student.
A few hundred fans gathered outside of the school Monday to say prayers for Aaliyah and they lit candles at 6:50 p.m., believed to be the time that her plane crashed on Saturday.
Aaliyah, whose full name was Aaliyah Haughton, another woman and four men were killed instantly when the small plane crashed shortly upon takeoff. Three men later died from their injuries.
The artist had come to the Bahamas to shoot a music video. The plane was returning the passengers to Florida when it crashed.
Aaliyah's song "Try Again" earned her a Grammy nomination for best female R&B vocalist. She made her feature acting debut in the film "Romeo Must Die."
The private plane carrying the star was leaving the Marsh Harbour airport on a trip to Opa-locka, Fla., when it went down Saturday evening, said police spokesman Marvin Dames.
Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in Atlanta, said the plane was a Cessna 402 owned by Skystream, a company based in Pembroke Pines, Fla. She said the plane crashed at the end of the airport's runway shortly before 7 p.m.
Aaliyah's name was derived from the Swahili word meaning "highest, most exalted one." Her early career was fostered by singer and producer R. Kelly, whom documents show she married in 1996, but it was apparently without her parents' consent and was later annulled. The pair severed their artistic ties and refused to comment about their relationship.
Aaliyah's self-titled third album was released just last month. She was also signed to appear in two sequels to "The Matrix." Now, producers of the two "Matrix" sequels say they haven't decided what to do with the role Aaliyah was to have in the movies. Warner Brothers has issued a statement saying "Aaliyah was a principal cast member in both films and had begun shooting, although the majority of her scenes were scheduled to begin production in September. No production decisions have been made."
She made her stage debut in a production of "Annie" at 6 years old and was taking voice lessons by age 9. Aaliyah's uncle was married to Gladys Knight, who invited the aspiring star to appear onstage in her Las Vegas show a couple of years later.
Family members identified the other victims as bodyguard Scott Gallin, 41, of North Miami, Fla.; Keith Wallace, 49, of Los Angeles; Douglas Kratz, 28, also of Los Angeles, a representative for Virgin Records; makeup artist Eric Forman, 29, of Los Angeles; Gina Smith, 29, of North Bergen, N.J.; Anthony Dodd, 34, of Los Angeles; and Christopher Maldonado, 32, of Los Angeles. Also killed in the crash was the plane's pilot, Blanes, 30, who lived in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but was originally from Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.
Copyright 2001 by ClickOnDetroit.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.
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