Next Friday marks the 40th anniversary of the deadliest plane crash on Canadian soil.
U.S. Army personnel based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky were heading home from Cairo, Egypt for Christmas when their charter Arrow Air DC-8 crashed a half mile from the end of the runway at Gander International Airport shortly after takeoff on the morning of Thursday, December 12, 1985.
The crash killed all 248 passengers and eight crew members on board.
The Arrow Air crash site just a short distance away from Gander International Airport (Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Achieves)
Icing on the wings is believed to have prevented the plane from gaining altitude on takeoff.
Within minutes of the crash, local emergency responders and volunteers raced to the site, to be met not by survivors, but complete carnage. The recovery operation is one that scarred many of those involved for life.
An RCMP on the scene of the crash (Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Achieves)
The Silent Witness Memorial, on a wooded embankment near the shores of Gander Lake, was established to mark the crash site, and has served as a gathering place for families and officials visiting from the United States.
The Town of Gander will host a memorial service next Friday to honour the lives of all 256 people lost. The service is scheduled for Friday, December 12th at 1:00 p.m. from Evangel Church in Gander.
