Biography

	I decided to put the official statement from Aaliyah's website so that's what comes next.
	Our beloved Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash on Saturday night along with our own Gina Smith, 29, of New Jersey, Aaliyah's product manager at Blackground Records; Blackground Records own Keith Wallace, 49, of Los Angeles; Douglas Kratz, 28, Virgin Records' director of video production; her bodyguard Scott Gallin, 41; Aaliyah's personal hair stylist Eric Forman, 29, of Los Angeles; hair stylist Anthony Dodd, 34, of Los Angeles; and makeup artist Christopher Maldonado, 32, of New York; as well as the plane's pilot, identified only as L. Maradel.
	The Cessna 402 was departing from the Marsh Harbour airport bound for Opa-locka, Florida, when it crashed shortly after takeoff at approximately 6:50pm, police say. The plane is said to have crashed approximately 200 feet from the end of the runway killing six people instantly. Three others died later due to their injuries.
	Aaliyah had just completed filming of her video for "Rock The Boat", directed by Hype Williams, in which she took time off of her promotional tour to shoot. The cause of the crash isn't known yet, but authorities suspect engine failure because the plane took off in good weather conditions. CNN is reporting that Gloria Knowles, who works for Abaco Air Ltd. at Marsh Harbour airport, said baggage handlers reported the plane was overloaded with suitcases, yet the plane was still allowed to depart at the insistence of the passengers.
	It was only two weeks ago that Aaliyah completed filming of her "More Than A Woman" video and she was also scheduled to be a presenter at the 2001 MTV awards on Thursday, September 6th in New York City. Aaliyah had already completed the initial shooting for the Matrix II in Los Angeles last month and was scheduled to fly to Australia after the New Year to finish up principal photography for The Matrix II & III.
	Our prayers go out to the families of all that were lost. They will be dearly missed.
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