AALIYAH PILOT HAD CRIMINAL RECORD

MIAMI -- The pilot of the ill-fated Cessna carrying pop phenom Aaliyah
had a recent criminal record, including a crack-cocaine violation that
had him in court less than two weeks before the plane went down in the
Bahamas, authorities said.

Luis Antonio Morales Blanes' record came to light Wednesday as
investigators continued scouring the wreckage in search of clues to
what may have caused the crash.

Excess weight is being considered as a possible factor.

NBC "Nightly News," citing unidentified sources, reported the plane
was over its maximum takeoff weight by 700 pounds to 1,500 pounds. The
maximum takeoff weight for a Cessna 402B is 6,300 pounds, according to
aviation experts. Asked about the report, Randy Butler, lead
investigator from the Bahamas Civil Aviation Department, told The
Associated Press, "We're not willing to speculate at this time." He
said not every single item from the plane had been weighed and he
would not give a partial weight.

Butler also said the two companies that owned and operated the plane
did not have a permit to operate in the Bahamas. In the U.S., where
the company was cleared for charter flights, Morales was not
authorized to fly the plane.

Aaliyah, the 22-year-old Grammy-nominated star, was leaving the
Bahamas following a shoot for a music video when the plane went down
just after takeoff Saturday on Abaco Island, 100 miles north of
Nassau. All nine occupants died.

Morales, 30, was in court 12 days before the crash, receiving three
years of probation for a series of allegations, including the drug
charge stemming from a July 7 traffic stop, Broward County prosecutors
said.

Authorities said crack cocaine residue was found on a front seat
during a search of Morales' 1993 Volkswagen after he ran a stop sign
in Pompano Beach. He pleaded no contest to the possession charge.

A spokesman for the prosecutors, Ron Ishoy, said Morales was also
sentenced for a charge of trying to peddle $345 worth of stolen
airplane parts last year and a theft charge for allegedly stealing a
model airplane and tool box.

Investigators were working to determine why Morales was at the
controls. He did not have federal authorization to fly the twin-engine
Cessna and had not been listed as the pilot for the plane by Blackhawk
International Airways, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman
Kathleen Bergen said.

The company is cleared by American officials to fly charters under an
air-taxi certificate, which authorizes a single pilot to fly the
plane, she said. But that pilot wasn't Morales, Bergen said.

Bergen said the FAA was still trying to clarify the relationship
between Blackhawk and the plane's registered owner, the Florida
company Skystream. The Miami Herald reported Wednesday that Blackhawk
was listed on customs documents as the flight's operator.

"It is not unusual for one company to lease an aircraft to another,
but that's something we have to clarify with regard to this flight,"
Bergen said.

Blackhawk officials did not return phone calls seeking comment
Wednesday. Skystream has an unlisted telephone number.

Bergen also said Blackhawk was cited by the FAA four times from 1997
through 2000 for various violations, including failing to follow
drug-testing rules for employees in 1999 and failing to perform proper
aircraft maintenance last year.