Video: 'Did Ice Cause the Deadly Gander Crash? | Mayday Air Disaster'

(Thursday, December 12, 1985, 6:46 a.m. NST) — 248 American soldiers and eight crew members were killed today when an Arrow Air charter crashed after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland.

The Canadian Aviation Safety Board determined the most probable cause of the crash was the aircraft’s loss of lift and increased drag shortly after takeoff, most likely due to ice contamination on the wings combined with an underestimated onboard weight, which led to a stall from which the crew could not recover.

A dissenting minority of investigators suggested the crash might instead have involved an in-flight fire or explosion, though this theory was not part of the official majority finding.