Accident
Arrow Air Flight 1285R was an international charter flight transporting U.S. Army personnel from Cairo, Egypt, to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, with stops in Cologne, West Germany, and Gander, Newfoundland. On the morning of Thursday, 12 December 1985, the McDonnell Douglas DC-8 serving the flight departed from Canada's Gander International Airport en route to Fort Campbell. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft stalled, crashed, and burned approximately half a mile from the runway. All 248 passengers and 8 crew members on board were killed.
Significance
As of 2026, the accident remains the deadliest aviation accident to occur on Canadian soil. At the time of the crash, it was also the deadliest accident involving a DC-8 aircraft. This record was surpassed nearly six years later by the crash of Nigeria Airways Flight 2120.