Silent Witnesses Memorial

Silent Witness Memorial - 101st Airborne (Arrow Air Crash Gander, NL)

A walk around of the memorial for 101st Airborne that perished in the Arrow Air crash December 12, 1985 at Gander, Newfoundland.

Gander 2018

Today marks the 33rd anniversary of the crash of Arrow Air Flight 1285 at Gander, Newfoundland, Canada.

The flight was scheduled to bring 248 Soldiers – all of whom were attached or assigned to 3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, “Strike and Kill,” 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division – home to Fort Campbell following a six-month peacekeeping mission to the Sinai Peninsula in the Middle East. There were no survivors.

Canadian Sugar Maples stand at the site as a living memorial to the 248 Soldiers and eight crew members who perished in the crash that remains the worst peacekeeping mission air tragedy in United States military history.

This was the last year the ceremony was held at the current memorial location. The memorial’s new location is adjacent to the current site where an old World War II motor pool once stood.

This video explains the necessity to move the Task Force 3-502nd Memorial Park while maintaining a living memorial to the 256 lost souls.

You can read more in The Fort Campbell Courier at

Silent Witness-Eddie Yetman

A song about the Arrow Air crash on Dec 12, 1985 in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. 101st Airborne Memorial.
By Eddie Yetman

1. GANDER - 101st Airborne Div. Memorial

In 1985, a DC-8 Arrow Air crashed shortly after take-off carrying soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army.

The Silent Witness Memorial is dedicated to those soldiers as well as eight crew members who perished.

It is considered the worst air crash disaster on Canadian soil.

The soldiers had just returned from a peacekeeping mission in Egypt (in the Sinai Peninsula) and were on their way home to the United States to celebrate the Christmas Holidays with their families.

After a brief stopover in Gander, Newfoundland, to refuel, the plane continued on its journey to the U.S. Only seconds after taking off from Gander International Airport, the plane inexplicably descended and slammed into the ground killing everyone on board.

Controversy still surrounds this crash; some attributing it to the build-up of ice on the wings, while some investigators point to an explosion on board (mortar shells were found in the wreckage).

Source: Wikipedia

The cross that you see in the first seconds of the video, was actually made from pieces of the fuselage. The sculptor took metal from the wreckage and molded it into this cross.

US Should Unseal Crash Records on Arrow Air 1285

A plane crash December 12th 1985 at Gander, in Newfoundland, Canada, that claimed the lives of nearly 250 US servicemen, was the worst military air disaster in history. Flames were seen aboard the plane just before it crashed, yet the US and Canadian governments failed to reconstruct the crash scene, they ignored suggestions that the plane crash was an act of terrorism, and the US Army quickly buried the wreckage, then sealed the records regarding the crash for 70 years.
#Gander Crash

GanderCrashTribute25years.wmv

This is a remake on the video I had made previously dedicated to the Gander Crash, that happened on December 12, 1985, 256 soldiers died plus 8 crew, my brother John was on that plane. I take no credit for the pictures or the song other than the pictures I own. Great Thanks to the 101rst Airborne, Gander The Untold Story, song On the Turning Away by Pink Floyd, one of my brothers favorite groups.

Oer Gander's field the eagle flies
Oh hear his mournful cries
Brave Eagle, why do you cry?
I mourn for the mothers who lost their sons,
I cry for wives who's dreams were lost,
For fathers who will never know their little ones.
Brave Eagle, why do you weep?
For the soldiers, brave and strong,
Who kept the peace and righted the wrong.
You ask me now for whom I weep?
For my children now long asleep.
Oer Gander's field the eagle still flies.
Now forever watchful from the skies.

I found this clipping in our family album.

Arrow Air Fight 1285: Unanswered Questions

Thirty years ago, Arrow Air Fight 1285 crashed in Gander, Newfoundland, killing the crew and 248 U.S. troops on board. Investigators blamed icing. But many experts think otherwise.
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Gander crash memorial.mpg

A piece commemorating the Gander crash from Navy Broadcasting Argentia, Newfoundland.

(X-Plane 11)World Tour-Canada-Newfoundland-Goose Bay (CYYR) Gander Intl (CYQX) #3

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Gander Memorial Tribute - 101st Airborne Division

This is a tribute to the soldiers that perished on Dec 12, 1985 in Gander Newfoundland. As a former member of this unit at the time I felt compelled to do something to give back to those that helped shape my life, however silent they were. This is for them....

The original music for this video was stripped out by Youtube, I hope this suffices as a replacement.

Memorials for the victims of plane crashes in Gander NL and Sept 11, 2001

The first pics and last one were taken in Gander, NL. Some were taken at The Silent Witness Memorial just outside of Gander where an Arrow Air plane crashed in 1985. The Sept 11 memorial pics were taken in Appleton NL

Gander Air Crash Rescue - 1946

A Sabena air liner has crashed in woods in Newfoundland. Forty four people survived the crash and the rescue work went on for many days.

KS Flying over Newfoundland Forest. Aerials shots of burnt out section of forest where ruins of plane is, shadow of rescue plane passing over forest. Ground shots of ruined plane, engine, tail-piece, fuselage etc. American soldier walks over very boggy ground. Survivors at camp nearby. Helicopter touches down, survivors taken off one by one. Walking case assisted by rescuers, another, a stretcher case carried over fields. Aerial shot of helicopter in flight, flying boat taxiing into Gander airfield, survivors being taken off, stretcher cases.

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Gander Memorial Cermony 1 of 4

25 years ago 256 members of the 101st Airborne Division died in a plane crash in Gander Newfoundland. These soldiers were returning from an overseas mission when their plane crashed killing everyone on the plane. on the 12th of December 2010 we paid tribute to these fallen soldiers.

HZX-962 Newfoundland Plates

This person, travelling towards Elizabeth Avenue, on Anderson, makes his own lane over the center line!

Arrow Air Flight 1285

This is a Tribute video and it is dedicated to the Crew, the Soldiers of the 101st Airborne and the Familys.

The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63CF, was chartered to carry U.S. service personnel, all members of the 101st Airborne Division, United States Army, from a six-month deployment in the Sinai, where they had served in the Multinational Force and Observers peacekeeping mission, back to their base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The DC-8 involved in the accident had been constructed in 1969, and had been leased to Arrow Air by its owner, International Air Leases. The flight was made up of three legs, the first between Cairo and Cologne, the second between Cologne and Gander, and the third between Gander and Fort Campbell. The aircraft departed Cairo at 2035 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and arrived at Cologne on December 12, 1985, at 0121 GMT. A new flight crew boarded the aircraft, before it departed for Gander at 0250 GMT. The aircraft arrived at Gander International Airport at 0904, where passengers departed the aircraft while the aircraft was refuelled. Witnesses reported the flight engineer conducted an external inspection of the aircraft, after which the passengers reboarded the aircraft.
The DC-8 began its take-off roll on runway 22 from the intersection of runway 13 at 10:15 UTC (06:45 NST). It rotated near taxiway A, 51 seconds after brake release at an airspeed of about 167 KIAS. Witnesses reported the aircraft had difficulty gaining altitude after rotation; the airspeed reached 172 KIAS and began to decrease again, causing the DC-8 to descend. After crossing the Trans-Canada Highway, located about 900 feet (270 m) from the departure end of runway 22, at a very low altitude, the pitch angle increased and the aircraft continued to descend. Witnesses driving on the highway said a bright glow emanated from the aircraft before it struck terrain just short of Gander Lake, and crashed approximately 900 feet (270 m) feet beyond the departure end of the runway. The aircraft destroyed an unoccupied building, before it broke up, causing a fire, increased in severity by the large amount of fuel aboard for the flight. All 248 passengers and eight crew aboard the aircraft sustained fatal injuries.

The Canadian Aviation Safety Board (CASB) investigated the crash, and, under the signature of five of nine board members, found that during its approach toward Gander, precipitation conditions were favorable for the formation of ice on the aircraft's wings. After landing, it continued to be exposed to freezing and frozen precipitation capable of producing roughening on the wing upper surface in addition to the freezing temperature. They also found that prior to takeoff the aircraft had not been de-iced. Four members of the CASB dissented, issuing a minority opinion asserting that there was no evidence presented proving that ice had been present on leading edges such as the wings, and the minority report speculated that.

On the day of the crash, responsibility was claimed by Islamic Jihad, a wing of Hezbollah.

The claim was dismissed by the Canadian and U.S. governments soon afterward. According to United Press International Hours after the crash the Islamic Jihad - a Shiite Muslim extremist group - claimed it destroyed the plane to prove our ability to strike at the Americans anywhere. Pentagon and Canadian government officials rejected the claim, made by an anonymous caller to a French news agency in Beirut. 256 people died including 248 U.S. servicemen and 8 crew members. As of 2009[update], that death toll constituted the deadliest plane crash in Canada. Of the 248 servicemen, all but twelve were members of 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), most of whom were from the 3d Battalion, 502nd Infantry; eleven were from other Forces Command units; and one was an agent from the Criminal Investigations Command (CID). A memorial to the 256 victims at the crash site overlooks Gander Lake, and another memorial was erected at Fort Campbell. There is also a Memorial Park in Hopkinsville, KY, just north of Fort Campbell.

Info:

gander flight incident

Arrow Air Crash Gander Newfoundland

In memory of the Hero's of the 101st Screaming Eagles.

Arrow Air DC-8 Crash in Gander Newfoundland

Thought provoking 20/20 episode which chronicles the investigation of the Arrow Air crash on December 16, 1985 which killed all 256 persons on board, 248 of which were US soldiers.

Icing of the plane was listed as the the official cause of the crash, but some members of the Canadian investigative team issued their own minority report, accusing officials of withholding critical evidence and covering up evidence of an on-board explosion - with possible ties to Iran-Contra.

Les Filotas, an aeronautical engineer who served on the investigative board, called the icing theory bizarre, convoluted, and outlandish. He had since authored a book titled Improbable Cause.

Gander Memorial Cermony 3 of 4

25 years ago 256 members of the 101st Airborne Division died in a plane crash in Gander Newfoundland. These soldiers were returning from an overseas mission when their plane crashed killing everyone on the plane. on the 12th of December 2010 we paid tribute to these fallen soldiers.

What Really Happened?

The morning on December 12, 1985, Arrow Air Flight 1285 went crashed just after take off. The crash took place at Gander Int, Newfoundland Canada. If took off runway 22 and crash 3,000ft away from the end of the runway.

This flight was carrying 252 Airborne troops and all the crew witch were all killed. the CASB (Canadian Aviation Safety Board) said that it had to due with Ice built up on the wings.

The US and Canadian government decided to lock up all the files related to the Arrow Air Crash for 70 years. So all the files to this crash is still locked up, we can only go on what people say.

If it was Icing on the wings why would they have to cover it up for 70 years? not to say they never rebuilt the wreckage they just pushed it all into gander lake, well most of it. and since Newfoundland gets hit with heavy snow a lot, Gander Int has one of the Best De-icing airports.