Aaliyah was reportedly 'drugged' and transferred onto the aeroplane that took her life, according to new claims.
The Back & Forth singer died in a plane crash after filming the music video for Rock The Boat in August 2001.
A new book called Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah - written by music journalist Kathy Iandoli - claims that the icon was given a sleeping pill when she voiced her concerns about boarding the flight.
Kingsley Russell - whose family ran a taxi and hospitality business in the Bahamas - was only 13 when he briefly met Aaliyah.
He was with her when his stepmother drove her team to the airport and worked as the baggage carrier.
Now 33 years old, Kingsley claimed the singer didn't want to board the plane and soon after went to sleep in the car his stepmother was driving.
She told her team she had a headache.
The R&B legend - whose full name is Aaliyah Dana Haughton - was reportedly carried onto the aeroplane while she was fast asleep.
Hours later, Aaliyah and eight members of her team were killed after the plane crashed after take-off.
The plane was 200 feet from the end of the runway and struggled to gain altitude.
It was later reported that the twin-engine Cessna was over its allowed weight by several hundred pounds.
Speaking for the first time since the tragedy, Kingsley stated: "They took her out of the van, she didn’t even know she was getting boarded on a plane.
"She went on the aeroplane asleep."
According to the book, Kingsley was able to hear people arguing about the weight problems of the aeroplane.
"[The airport staff] and Aaliyah had the common sense that the plane was overweight," he said in the book.
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The author, Kathy, had spoke to The Daily Beast and said: "I remember when Aaliyah passed away, I was really upset.
"The story kept saying that she was adamant about getting on the plane. I was almost upset with her. Why did you want to get on that plane so badly?"
She added: "In learning that she did not want to get on the plane, for someone like myself and so many other people, I think that’s closure for us. It’s an unfortunate closure… but I needed to hear she didn’t want to get on that plane; I needed to know that.
"The person who I thought had the most common sense in the world had the common sense to not get on the plane. The fact that she was so adamant, staying in the cab, refusing — these are things we never knew."
An inquest found that Aaliyah suffered from "severe burns and a blow to the head".
Toxicology tests also found that the pilot, Luis Morales III, had traces of cocaine and alcohol in his system.
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