Arrow Air Flight 1285
30 years ago yesterday, 256 people lost their lives as Arrow Air Flight 1285 lifted off from Gander International Airport in Newfoundland, Canada on it’s last leg of a flight that began in Cairo, Egypt, to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. 248 of the fatalities were US soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division, who were returning from their Multinational Force and Observers peacekeeping mission in the Sinai. The cause of the crash was evidently, according to the Canadian Aviation Safety Board, was “the aircraft’s unexpectedly high drag and reduced lift condition, most likely due to ice contamination on the wings’ leading edges and upper surfaces, as well as underestimated onboard weight”.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, covered the memorial ceremony in Gander yesterday;
Some residents of Gander have revived the annual memorial ceremony for the Arrow Air crash.
Last year was the first time in 26 years that the service did not take place.
Now, a group of people in the town are vowing to make sure the tragedy is remembered every year.
CBC also covered the memorial ceremony at Fort Campbell.
Category: We Remember
I lost a very good friend on that flight.
SSG Steven A. Andreoff, 3/502 INF.
Andy (that was his nickname) had been a Mess Sergeant in 1/15 INF at Kitzingen with me from 81-83 and the Bn Mess Hall and my S-4 shop were in the same building. We were both doing unaccompanied tours and became both on and off duty running buddies.
He was kind of a “California Surfin Dude” and I was a down to earth Indiana hog farmer, so naturally we hit it off and sort of neutralized each other.
He and his lovely wife Sandy (who I met once when she came over for vacation and has since passed away) are buried in Concord,CA.
Rest In Peace Andy, I miss the Hell out of you.
I read your comment, and I just wept. I feel as bad for those men now as I did 30 years ago.
Stationed in MDW at the time, I flew some GOs to Gander during the recovery. I had the duty to bring back some of the remains of our fellow soldiers to Dover AFB on our return. I’ve visited the crash site on subsequent trips through Gander. Somber. regards, Alemaster
Here’s an account of the Army’s response to the crash –
http://www.history.army.mil/books/DAHSUM/1986/appA.htm
From an admin perspective, one lesson learned from this tragedy is the importance of not carrying Soldiers’ original medical and personnel records on the same flight. Although many were recovered or reconstituted, this delayed the identification of remains, and made getting families their benefits more difficult. This isn’t in the article, but I remember discussion at the time that many Soldiers’ wills were lost in the crash. As long as I can remember it’s been standard advice to not take your will with you when you deploy; leave it in a safe place at your house, or in the possession of your executor or a trusted family member.
Didn’t this incident get the ball rolling on Dana profiles of all militar personnel?
Dna profiles Is what I meant
Not sure, but the timing seems to fit.
I flew on an Arrow Air DC-8 out of Rhein-Main at the end of June 1984. After boarding the flight, we were still on the ground two hours later because of maintenance problems. the aircraft looked like such a piece of shit, we made jokes about how we were all going to die on the flight back stateside while we were playing spades in the aisle, killing time and sweating our asses off. When we finally did take off, I won’t lie, I was scared. About two thirds of the way across the Atlantic, we started a noticeable descent, as we were far enough north that you could see ice in the water below. The worrisome part came when those of us on board noticed the ice in the water was getting bigger. The captain came on the intercom to inform us that we were experiencing engine problems, and that we would be landing in Gander, Newfoundland for repairs, before continuing on to Philadelphia. We landed, maintenance was performed, we took off again, and were forced to land in Bangor, Maine. Took of AGAIN…and straight to Philly from there. I was never in my life so glad to get off of an airplane. Those of us on this flight pitched a pretty big bitch about how awful the experience was, and clearly, no one paid any attention. After all E-3’s and E-4’s complain about pretty much anything. When his flight crashed, all I could think was that it could just as well have been me. When I read this story just a little while ago, I wept, just like I did 30 years ago, for men I never actually knew. R.I.P. Soldiers.
Rest in peace, Eagles and others.
This happened a few years after I separated from the NG. I remember reading about the investigation, in addition to the icing others have mentioned I seem to recall that Arrow Air did not receive a very favorable review from the safety investigators who stated in addition to the icing that caused a lost of lift there was a continuing problem with the number 4 engine and the hydraulics that was never addressed.
A tragic loss of life because of piss poor maintenance procedures should have resulted in somebody being jailed at a minimum.
Rest in Peace, you certainly earned that right.
We were still at an outpost in Egypt when we got the news via radio. We took the third flight back. Very sad day when we got back to Fort Campbell.