Damon Dash is revisiting one of the last exchanges he says he had with Aaliyah as those closest to the singer mark 25 years since her death.
Dash, who was dating Aaliyah in 2001, told Us Weekly that she sent him a message expressing discomfort with an aircraft shortly before her death. “She texted me saying, ‘I don’t like the plane.’ I told her, ‘Don’t get on it,” he recalled.
The comment has attracted renewed attention around the anniversary, including coverage from Page Six.
Aaliyah was 22 when the Cessna 402B carrying her and eight other people crashed shortly after taking off from Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas on August 25, 2001. She had been filming the music video for “Rock the Boat” and decided to leave the Bahamas a day earlier than originally planned after completing her portion of the shoot.
Dash Says Aaliyah Told Him, ‘I Don’t Like the Plane’
In the new interview, Dash said Aaliyah was generally afraid of flying and recalled immediately telling her not to board after receiving the message. “However, she said she had to do it for the video,” he told Us Weekly, adding that he believed she sensed something was wrong with the aircraft.
During a 2016 appearance on The Real, he similarly recalled communicating with Aaliyah by BlackBerry and quoted her as saying, “Yo, I don’t like that plane,” before answering, “Don’t get on it.” He also said he had opposed her trip to the Bahamas in the first place and believed that, had he been there, he would have ensured she traveled on a different aircraft.
His 2016 Account Leaves Some Ambiguity About the Timing
In 2016, he introduced the BlackBerry conversation by saying it happened “before she went there” and recalled Aaliyah responding that she had to “go do that video.”
His 2026 interview presents the warning more directly in connection with the aircraft involved in her final trip. Because the actual messages have not been made public, it is not possible to resolve that timing discrepancy from Dash’s recollections alone.
What is clear is that Dash has not suddenly introduced the “I don’t like the plane” story 25 years later. E! News covered his account in April 2016, when he also said there was “no chance” he would have allowed Aaliyah to board that particular aircraft if he had been with her.
Investigators Found Serious Problems With the Fatal Flight
A preliminary Bahamian investigation released through the National Transportation Safety Board found that the Cessna’s maximum permitted gross weight had been “substantially exceeded” and that the aircraft was improperly balanced, with too much weight toward the rear.
Contemporary estimates placed the aircraft at approximately 700 pounds over its permitted takeoff weight. CBS News reported shortly after the crash that investigators found no initial evidence of mechanical trouble with the engines or airframe, while the plane’s maintenance history was not yet fully available to investigators.
Questions also emerged about pilot Luis Antonio Morales’ authorization to operate the Cessna. The preliminary investigation said he was not approved to act as pilot in command of the aircraft under the applicable commercial-flight rules, and later reporting found problems with flight-experience records used to obtain his credentials.
Toxicology evidence added another troubling element. A pathologist testified during a 2003 coroner’s inquest that Morales had cocaine in his urine and traces of alcohol in his stomach. CBS News reported that the doctor was not asked to determine whether those substances contributed to the crash.
The ‘Rock the Boat’ Dancers Still Remember Their Final Goodbye
The 25th anniversary has also brought new memories from people who spent Aaliyah’s final days working beside her. Carmit Bachar, one of nine backup dancers involved in “Rock the Boat,” told Us Weekly that she still pictures Aaliyah and members of her team sailing away on a yacht while the dancers remained on shore waving goodbye. At the time, Bachar said, it was an ordinary farewell, only afterward did the image take on a completely different meaning.
Fellow dancer Lesley Nicole Lewis remembered the shoot as unusually joyful, with the group joking, singing made-up songs and spending downtime together between scenes. Before leaving, Aaliyah talked about seeing the dancers again at rehearsals in New York, where preparations were underway for future performances. Lewis said she normally did not ask artists to pose for photographs but remains grateful that the group took one together that day.
Aaliyah had originally been scheduled to remain in the Bahamas until August 26 but left on August 25 after finishing her portions of the video. The aircraft crashed less than a minute after takeoff, approximately 200 feet beyond the runway. Aaliyah, Morales and four others died at the scene, while three additional passengers later died from their injuries.
‘Rock the Boat’ Was Released After Aaliyah’s Death
The tragedy initially left the future of the “Rock the Boat” video uncertain. Director Hype Williams later said the people who worked on it had put their hearts into the project and believed audiences should still be allowed to see the finished work despite the pain surrounding its creation.
The video ultimately premiered on BET on October 9, 2001, before entering rotation on MTV. Its tropical imagery, yacht sequences and underwater footage became inseparable from the circumstances in which the project was completed, particularly the closing images of Aaliyah moving beneath the water and toward the light above her.
Bachar told Us Weekly that the underwater sequence still affects her 25 years later, while Lewis said she continues practicing the “Rock the Boat” choreography so that it never leaves her body. When she is with other dancers who worked with Aaliyah, Lewis said, they still perform portions of the routine as a way of keeping the singer’s memory present.