The World - News from June 25, 1989

Canadian investigators relied on fabricated evidence when they probed a 1985 crash that killed 256 Americans in Gander, Newfoundland, the U.S. Air Line Pilots Assn. charged. In a letter to the Canadian Aviation Safety Board, which investigated the crash, Harold Marthinsen, accident investigator for the pilots’ group, said, “It should be clear they simply conjured up their trajectory with faulty, or perhaps more to the point, fabricated data.” The Arrow Air DC-8 was carrying U.S. troops home for Christmas when it crashed on takeoff Dec. 12, 1985. Canadian investigators, who used a computer simulation to reconstruct the flight path, said ice on the wings caused the crash. But four panel members disagreed, saying an on-board blast probably was to blame.