Almost eight years after John F. Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, federal officials on Tuesday released an audio clip of an airport intern and a Federal Aviation Administration dispatcher discussing the missing plane.

A transcript of the conversation between Adam Budd, a 21-year-old college student employed at the Martha's Vineyard Airport, and the call center at the FAA's Automated Flight Service Station in Bridgeport, Conn., was made public four days after the July 16, 1999, crash.

The audio clip released Tuesday by the Department of Transportation was the result of a federal Freedom of Information Act request filed by broadcasters after the crash. A portion of it was aired on Boston's WFXT-TV.