Icy Wings Blamed in Fatal Crash
A sharply divided commission concluded today that ice on the wings of a military plane caused the crash that killed 248 U.S. soldiers returning home for Christmas nearly three years ago.
Four of the nine panel members wrote a separate minority opinion, however, saying the crash on Dec. 12, 1985, at Gander, Newfoundland, was probably caused by a fire that may have been started by an explosion aboard the plane. The majority report by the Canadian Aviation Safety Board discounted terrorism and fire as causes of the disaster. The minority opinion said witnesses saw fire coming from the Arrow Air charter DC-8 before it crashed shortly after takeoff.
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