Twenty-five years after Aaliyah’s death shocked the music world, her final trip to the Bahamas is suddenly back in the headlines.
But this is not a new investigation into the crash.
Instead, a bitter legal battle within Aaliyah’s own family has produced a startling allegation about what happened before the 22-year-old singer boarded the small aircraft that crashed on August 25, 2001.
Aaliyah’s uncle and former manager, Barry Hankerson, alleges that his own son — Aaliyah’s cousin Jomo Hankerson — had been paid to coordinate travel for the Bahamas music-video shoot but failed to fulfill that responsibility. Barry claims that if those arrangements had been handled differently, Aaliyah might never have boarded the doomed aircraft. Jomo denies wrongdoing, and the allegation has not been established as fact in court. (TMZ)
Aaliyah in the final months of her life
In the summer of 2001, Aaliyah Dana Haughton appeared to be entering an extraordinary new chapter.
She was only 22, but she was already an established R&B star with hits including “Back & Forth,” “Are You That Somebody?” and “Try Again.”
Her self-titled third album had arrived in July 2001, and her acting career was expanding after roles in Romeo Must Die and Queen of the Damned.
Then came the trip to the Bahamas to film “Rock the Boat.”
Nobody involved could have imagined that it would become her final music video.
Her final video shoot in the Bahamas
Aaliyah and members of her team traveled to the Bahamas to film the tropical video.
Footage and photographs from the production remain especially haunting today because they capture the singer during the final days of her life — smiling, dancing and working beside the ocean.
On August 25, 2001, after filming was completed, Aaliyah and members of her entourage prepared to leave the Bahamas.
They boarded a twin-engine Cessna 402B at Marsh Harbour Airport on Great Abaco Island.
Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft crashed.
Aaliyah and the eight other people aboard were killed. (People.com)
She was just 22 years old.
Investigators found serious problems with the flight
The circumstances surrounding the crash have been documented for years.
Investigators determined that the aircraft was significantly overloaded — by roughly 700 pounds — and its center of gravity was positioned too far aft. Reporting on the investigation also found serious issues involving pilot Luis Morales III, including that he was not properly qualified to fly the aircraft and had cocaine and alcohol in his system. (People.com)
Those findings have long formed the factual record surrounding the tragedy.
The allegation emerging in 2026 is different.
It concerns the events that allegedly led to Aaliyah being on that particular flight in the first place.
Now her uncle is making a new allegation
Twenty-five years later, Barry and Jomo Hankerson are embroiled in a legal battle.
Jomo has sued his father and Blackground Records over money he says he is owed from music assets involving artists including Aaliyah, Toni Braxton, DMX and Timbaland.
Barry has denied Jomo’s allegations.
But buried within the dispute was something far more personal.
According to court documents reported by TMZ, Barry alleges that Jomo was paid to coordinate Aaliyah’s travel for the “Rock the Boat” shoot.
Barry claims his son failed to carry out that responsibility.
He further alleges that the fatal crash “may have been avoided” if Jomo had completed the travel-coordination job he had allegedly been paid to perform. (TMZ)
It’s an extraordinary accusation for one reason in particular:
Barry is making it against his own son.
Jomo is Barry’s son and Aaliyah’s cousin.
Barry reportedly says his relationship with Jomo was never the same following Aaliyah’s death. (TMZ)
But the lawsuit does NOT establish that Jomo caused the crash
This distinction is crucial.
There is no new official investigation concluding that Jomo Hankerson caused Aaliyah’s death.
Barry’s allegation is essentially that different travel arrangements might have prevented Aaliyah from boarding the aircraft that ultimately crashed.
That remains a contested allegation in ongoing litigation, not a proven finding about responsibility for the crash. Jomo has denied allegations of wrongdoing. (TMZ)
The documented problems with the aircraft and pilot remain separate from this newly public family dispute.
Behind the accusation is a multimillion-dollar fight
The lawsuit itself isn’t primarily about the plane crash.
It’s about music, money and ownership.
Jomo alleges that his father breached a settlement involving recording masters and publishing copyrights connected with Aaliyah and other artists associated with Blackground Records.
He initially alleged that he was entitled to 12% of money Barry received from those music assets, accusing his father of hiding money and manufacturing unrelated expenses.
Barry denies those allegations and disputes the validity of the settlement. (TMZ)
Then, on September 1, the financial stakes became even clearer.
TMZ reported that Jomo’s representatives indicated he would settle his claims for $20 million, or alternatively wanted financial records related to the music assets turned over if Barry considered that demand excessive. (TMZ)
Barry has also accused Jomo of threatening to release unreleased Aaliyah recordings amid their dispute — another allegation Jomo denies. (TMZ)
The case remains ongoing.
Aaliyah’s legacy 25 years later
The timing has made the family dispute particularly emotional for fans.
August 25, 2026 marked exactly 25 years since Aaliyah died.
A quarter-century later, her influence is still visible across R&B, fashion and pop culture.
Her music eventually became widely available on streaming platforms after years of complicated rights issues, introducing her work to listeners who weren’t even alive during her career. (People.com)
And memories of her final days continue to emerge.
Around the anniversary, one of Aaliyah’s surviving background dancers recalled how some members of the dance team had remained behind in the Bahamas rather than boarding the fatal flight. After the crash, Lenny Kravitz reportedly helped arrange his private jet to get the surviving dancers safely home. (People.com)
25 years later, one question still hurts
For Aaliyah’s family and fans, no lawsuit can change what happened on August 25, 2001.
A 22-year-old artist with an enormous future ahead of her boarded a small plane after completing a music video.
Minutes later, she was gone.
What has changed 25 years later is that a private family accusation about the arrangements preceding that flight has entered the public record.
Barry Hankerson says his son failed to handle travel arrangements that might have kept Aaliyah off the aircraft. Jomo denies wrongdoing. No court has determined that Jomo caused or bears legal responsibility for the crash.
For now, it remains an allegation inside an increasingly bitter family battle — one that has unexpectedly reopened questions surrounding one of music’s most heartbreaking losses just days after its 25th anniversary. (TMZ)
For another tale of a long-lost item found, check out how this son dug up his father’s wedding ring years after he passed, or see how Ed O’Neill’s recent reunion with his *Modern Family* castmates had fans doing a double take.
