Aaliyah Remembered: 9th Anniversary Of Aaliyah's Death

Aaliyah and her entourage were eager to return to the United States. They made the decision to leave immediately. Against the advice of baggage handlers and the pilot, all the equipment from the shoot was loaded on the plane.[42] The group was unaware that the plane was unable to hold all the equipment of the Cessna 404 they had initially flown in by.[43] Therefore, the aircraft exceeded the standard weight and balance tolerance limit provided by Cessna.[42] The plane crashed shortly after takeoff, about 200 feet (60 m) from the runway.[41] Aaliyah, pilot Luis Morales III, hair stylist Eric Forman, Anthony Dodd, security guard Scott Gallin, video producer Douglas Kratz, stylist Christopher Maldonado, and Blackground Records employees Keith Wallace and Gina Smith were killed.[44]

MTV: What memory do you revisit most when you think about Aaliyah?

Elliott: We've had so many memorable times. My most memorable is when me, her and Tim wore outfits alike! It was burgundy Pony outfits to the awards. Mind you, Aaliyah was petite so her Pony outfit looked so cute on her, but I kept looking at mine during the awards whispering to her saying, "I feel like a big-ass pony for real!" And we laughed and laughed! Too many memories to state them all! If she was still with us, she would still be at the top. Because she always stayed pushing herself to be better.