Gander - The mysteries still persist about Arrow Air Charter (one of Lieut. Colonel Oliver North's regular arms shippers) DC 8 flight MF 1285R

Here is an interesting and very curious letter concerning Arrow Air Charter (one of Lieut. Colonel Oliver North's regular arms shippers) DC 8 flight MF 1285R, which crashed immediately after take off from Gander in Canada on December 12th 1985. All 256 on board were killed, including 248 U.S. peacekeepers returning from duty in Egypt. Most were were members of the 101stAirborne Division, who were assigned as a peace-keeping force in the Sinai Peninsula, enforcing the Camp David accords of 1978 - more than 20 Special Forces personnel trained for counterterrorist missions were also on board - the mysterious Company E .

It was the worst U.S. military air disaster ever.

You may also like to access Gander : The Untold Story

A list of the dead is here.

Wikipedia says ..

The accident was investigated by the Canadian Aviation Safety Board (CASB), and was determined to have been caused by the aircraft's unexpectedly high drag and reduced lift condition, which most likely was due to ice contamination on the wings' leading edges. A minority report of four memebers including two aeronautical engineers stated that the accident could have been caused by an on board explosion of unknown origin prior to impact...."We cannot agree--indeed, we categorically disagree--with the majority findings . . . The evidence shows that the Arrow Air DC-8 suffered an on-board fire and a massive loss of power before it crashed . . . The fire may have been associated with an in-flight detonation from an explosive or incendiary device."

20 years laterLes Filotas was one of the four members who filed a minority report, and later wrote a book called Improbable Cause which suggested other causes – particularly an explosion – may have been responsible."Many of the experts involved in the investigation," says Filotas, "didn't realize they were participating in a cover-up."

All these years later, however, Filotas – who is certain there was a coverup of evidence about the disaster – says his hope of another investigation has faded.

"I used to think so and hope so, but after 20 years nothing has changed," he said.

"So, I have to reluctantly believe that maybe it will be forgotten."

TIME 1992 article.