American Notes Airlines

The Christmas-season crash of a chartered DC-8 jet at Gander, Newfoundland, that killed all 248 military passengers and the crew of eight claimed another casualty last week. Arrow Air, the Miami-based company whose jet was ferrying home members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division from Sinai peacekeeping duty, filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11. Of Arrow's 500 employees, 400 were furloughed, and all but a handful of charter passenger and cargo flights were canceled.

The airline had been in turbulent financial condition ever since the Dec. 12 crash, which so far has mystified Canadian and U.S. investigators. Last week, though, the Canadian Aviation Safety Board reported that the crew had underestimated the weight of the plane's passengers and baggage by at least six tons. Spurred by mounting pressure from Congress, the Federal Aviation Administration declared Arrow's remaining fleet of ten DC-8s no longer airworthy because critical replacement parts had not been FAA certified, and the Air Force then suspended Arrow's $21 million military-charter contract. Arrow called the Government's actions "unwarranted."