The American McDonnell Douglas DC8 aircraft is known as the "disaster star" because in its 30 years as a passenger aircraft, there have been more than 140 serious air crashes, resulting in a total of 2,256 deaths. A fraction of the 256 people are all soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army.
The 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army may be the most familiar U.S. military unit among Chinese people. The release of the American drama "Band of Brothers" that year generated a large number of fans of the 101st Division in China. Many people talk about the 101st Division, and no US army has such a high popularity in China.
On December 12, 1985, the 3rd Battalion of the 502nd Regiment of the 101st Division, which had been deployed in the Sinai Peninsula for six months, boarded a McDonnell Douglas DC8 passenger plane at Cairo Airport, where they would make two stopovers through Cologne, Germany and Newfoundland, Canada, and finally arrive in Kentucky, USA, where they returned home.
At this time, McDonnell Douglas DC8 had been out of production for 12 years. In other words, the youngest McDonnell Douglas DC8 has been flying for 12 years, and the plane they are flying on with the number 1285 has been flying for 22 years.
[Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506th Regiment]
The 502nd Regiment was the first parachute infantry regiment formed in the 101st Division, established in 1942, and a year later, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, where the brothers were located, was formed. It stands to reason that the 502nd Regiment should be the big brother, but in the European theater of World War II, the performance of the 502nd Regiment was not as bright as the 506th Regiment.
In the early morning of the 12th, DC8 arrived at Newfoundland Gander Airport. At this time, the temperature drops below freezing, and the airport is covered with snow everywhere, and planes have to refuel here. The soldiers crowded into the waiting room to call their loved ones at home and tell them they would soon be able to meet. But no one would have thought that this phone call would be a farewell.
At 6 o'clock in the morning, the plane took off again. But it taxied on the runway for more than 50 seconds, but it never took off. Seeing that the plane was about to rush out of the runway, the pilot pulled the plane up desperately. At this time, the speed of the aircraft was only 300 kilometers, barely reaching the minimum take-off speed of the aircraft.
However, the plane still could not increase its speed after leaving the ground, but became slower and slower, and finally crashed in a swamp only 3,000 meters away from the airport. The plane was blown to pieces, killing all 256 people on board.
The 3rd Battalion of the 502nd Regiment of the 101st Division lost more than 200 people in the air crash. Jihad's group immediately claimed responsibility for the incident. However, after investigation by the US intelligence service, it was found that Jihad was only bluffing, and the real cause of the crash was the fatigue of the pilot's driving and the icing of the wings.
The plane belonged to Arrow Airlines, a company that had been ordered to rectify several times due to mismanagement. The two pilots and a mechanic on Flight 1285 had flown 12 flights in 10 days and had only 6 hours of rest in 48 hours, and everyone was exhausted.
Before takeoff, the pilots noticed ice on the wings, but only dealt with it briefly. The ice on the wings led to an increase in flight resistance, which eventually led to tragedy.
However, the Canadian side did not agree with the results of this investigation, so to this day, the real cause of the Flight 1285 accident is still a mystery.
Americans are actually very superstitious, many people found that McDonnell Douglas DC8 is simply a disaster machine, in its nearly 30 years as a passenger aircraft, a total of 140 air crashes, of which 87 serious air crashes, caused a total of 2256 deaths, including the American soldiers on Flight 1285.
[Half of the 101st Division's battalion was killed in a plane crash]
In addition, DC8 has suffered 48 hijackings, resulting in many casualties. It's not an exaggeration to say it's a disaster opportunity.
The DC-10, the successor to the DC8, is not far behind, and is known as the king of air crashes. In 1979 alone, DC10 suffered three serious air crashes, killing a total of 605 people. Later, there were a number of air crashes in a row, and Americans all said that McDonnell Douglas was cursed and McDonnell Douglas's plane could not sit.
In 1997, McDonnell Douglas was acquired by Boeing. Flying Arrow also collapsed after this accident and finally declared bankruptcy.