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This week marks one of the sadder anniversaries in Army history.<\/p>\n
No, not a major battle, but a reminder that anything to do with war has its risks. Even so-called “peacekeeping”.<\/p>\n
On December 12, 1985, a DC8 full of 101st soldiers made their second stop of a trip from Cairo to Cologne to Gander, Canada and then home, returning from a six month tour with the Multinational Force and Observers mission in the Sinai.<\/p>\n
A total of 248 soldiers and eight crew members were killed.<\/p>\n
U.S. Army Veteran Paul Bartone said, \u201cMy initial reaction was shock, \u2018What\u2019s going on here?\u2019 It was kind of hard to believe that such a large number of soldiers could be killed like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The plane crashed on a trip back from the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt going toward Fort Campbell. The plane stopped in Gander, Newfoundland. As the plane was leaving Gander, investigators say the plane, which was a McDonnell Douglas DC-8, stalled and crashed just a half mile away from the runway.\u00a0 Spectrum News<\/a><\/p>\n
It was a Thursday morning when the aircraft was en route to Kentucky. Just after takeoff, on runway 22, it rotated nearly a minute after brake release. The plane was traveling 167 KIAS.<\/p>\n
The aircraft had trouble gaining altitude afterward. It did lift into the air at a speed of 172 KIAS, but decreased again and descended.<\/p>\n
It was roughly 900 feet away from the runway. Because of the significant amount of fuel in the plane, the crash caused a fiery explosion.History Collection.com<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It was not only the deadliest crash in the history of the 101st, but also the deadliest crash in Canada’s air history as well.<\/p>\n
Claims were made by the Islamic Jihad for the crash but the Canada Air Safety Board did not find them credible, although four of the board members expressed that an on-board explosion could have led to the engine failures. The majority of the board suggested that icing on the wings may have been the cause, although no ice was reported. Unfortunately the flight recorders were unreadable after the crash so no clear cause has ever been established.<\/p>\n
256 in total died. Eight crew members. 236 members of the 101st, the other 12 from other units.<\/p>\n
Arrow Air\u00a0 flight 1285. Say a prayer for those on board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"