Arrow Air Flight 1285 Arrow Air Flight 1285 was a McDonnell Douglas DC - 8 - 63CF jetliner , registered N950JW , which operated as an international charter flight carrying U . S . troops from Cairo , Egypt , to their home base in Fort Campbell , Kentucky , via Cologne , Germany and Gander , Newfoundland . On the morning of Thursday , 12 December 1985 , shortly after takeoff from Gander en route to Fort Campbell , the aircraft stalled , crashed , and burned about half a mile from the runway , killing all 256 passengers and crew on board . It is the deadliest aviation accident to occur on Canadian soil and the second deadliest involving a DC - 8 after Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 . The accident was investigated by the Canadian Aviation Safety Board ( CASB ) , which determined the probable cause of the crash was the aircraft ' s unexpectedly high drag and reduced lift condition , most likely was due to ice contamination on the wings ' leading edges and upper surfaces , as well as underestimated onboard weight . A minority report stated that the accident could have been caused by an onboard explosion of unknown origin prior to impact . Flight history . The aircraft , a McDonnell Douglas DC - 8 - 63CF , was chartered to carry U . S . service personnel , all members of the 101st Airborne Division , United States Army , from a six - month deployment in the Sinai , where they had served in the Multinational Force and Observers peacekeeping mission , back to their base in Fort Campbell , Kentucky . The DC - 8 involved in the accident had been constructed in 1969 , and had been leased to Arrow Air by its owner , International Air Leases . The flight was made up of three legs , the first between Cairo and Cologne , the second between Cologne and Gander , and the third between Gander and Fort Campbell . The aircraft departed Cairo at 2035 Greenwich Mean Time ( GMT ) , and arrived at Cologne on 12 December 1985 , at 0121 GMT . A new flight crew ( consisting of pilots John Griffin and John R . Connelly , both 45 , and Flight Engineer Michael " Mike " Fowler , 48 ) boarded the aircraft before it departed for Gander at 0250 GMT . The aircraft arrived at Gander International Airport at 0904 , where passengers departed the aircraft while the aircraft was refueled . Witnesses reported the flight engineer conducted an external inspection of the aircraft , after which the passengers re - boarded the aircraft . The DC - 8 began its take - off roll on runway 22 from the intersection of runway 13 at 10 : 15 UTC ( 06 : 45 NST ) . It rotated near taxiway A , 51 seconds after brake release , at an airspeed of about 167 KIAS . Witnesses reported the aircraft showed difficulty gaining altitude after rotation . Airborne , the airspeed reached 172 KIAS and began to decrease again , causing the DC - 8 to descend . After crossing the Trans - Canada Highway , located about from the departure end of runway 22 , at a very low altitude , the aircraft ' s pitch increased and it continued to descend . Witnesses driving on the highway stated that they saw a bright glow emanating from the aircraft before it struck terrain just short of Gander Lake and crashed approximately feet beyond the departure end of the runway . The aircraft ' s right wing struck a tree and exploded before the rest of the aircraft pitched nose - down while rolled to the right . The aircraft then struck an unoccupied building , and exploded , starting a fire which increased in severity due to the large amount of fuel on board for the final leg of the flight . All 248 passengers and eight crew aboard the aircraft perished . Investigation . The Canadian Aviation Safety Board ( CASB ) investigated the crash , and , under the signature of five of nine board members , found that during its approach toward Gander , precipitation conditions were favorable for the formation of ice on the aircraft ' s wings . After landing , it continued to be exposed to " freezing and frozen precipitation capable of producing roughening on the wing upper surface " in addition to the freezing temperature . They also found that prior to takeoff the aircraft had not been de - ice d . The Board issued the following Probable Cause statement in its final report : Four members of the CASB dissented , issuing a minority opinion asserting that there was no evidence presented proving that ice had been present on leading edges such as the wings , and the minority report speculated that : The one piece of evidence that could have shown which one is correct was the Cockpit Voice Recorder ( CVR ) . However , this device was defective and failed to record anything . Also , the Flight Data Recorder ( FDR ) was an older model that only recorded 4 parameters . It was scheduled to be replaced a few weeks later . Willard Estey , a former Supreme Court of Canada judge , submitted a review of the CASB report in 1989 , ruling that the available evidence did not support either conclusion . As a result the Canadian public ' s confidence in the CASB was undermined . The federal government responded by creating the Transportation Safety Board of Canada . Aftermath . On the day of the crash , responsibility was claimed by Islamic Jihad , a wing of Hezbollah . The claim was dismissed by the Canadian and U . S . governments soon afterward . According to United Press International " Hours after the crash the Islamic Jihad – a Shiite Muslim extremist group – claimed it destroyed the plane to prove [ its ] ability to strike at the Americans anywhere . " Pentagon and Canadian government officials rejected the claim , made by an anonymous caller to a French news agency in Beirut . 256 people died , including 248 U . S . servicemen and eight crew members . , that death toll constituted the deadliest plane crash in Canada , and the United States Army ' s single deadliest air crash in peacetime . Of the 248 servicemen , all but 12 were members of 101st Airborne Division ( Air Assault ) , most of whom were from the 3d Battalion , 502nd Infantry ; eleven were from other Forces Command units ; and one was an agent from the Criminal Investigations Command ( CID ) . A memorial to the 256 victims at the crash site overlooks Gander Lake , and another memorial was erected at Fort Campbell . There is also a Memorial Park in Hopkinsville , KY , just north of Fort Campbell . In 1991 , Les Filotas , one of the four CASB board members who dissented in the final report , published an exhaustive argument for the minority opinion that a possible in - flight explosion doomed the aircraft . Dramatization . The story of the crash was featured on the eleventh season of Canadian TV series Mayday . The episode is entitled " Split Decision " . External links . Media links :