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 December 12, 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 refuelled. Witnesses reported the flight engineer conducted an external inspection of the aircraft, after which the passengers reboarded 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 had difficulty gaining altitude after rotation; the airspeed reached 172 KIAS and began to decrease again, causing the DC-8 to descend. After crossing the Trans-Canada Highway, located about 900 feet (270 m) from the departure end of runway 22, at a very low altitude, the pitch angle increased and the aircraft continued to descend. Witnesses driving on the highway said a bright glow emanated from the aircraft before it struck terrain just short of Gander Lake, and crashed approximately 900 feet (270 m) feet beyond the departure end of the runway. The aircraft destroyed an unoccupied building, before it broke up, causing a fire, increased in severity by the large amount of fuel aboard for the flight. All 248 passengers and eight crew aboard the aircraft perished.
Read more about this topic: Arrow Air Flight 1285
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