Word: crashing
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...President entered the room. Ronald Reagan had just returned from a memorial service at Fort Campbell, Ky., and the pall carried over to the gathering on Capitol Hill. There was a moment of silence for the 248 soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division who died in the Arrow Air crash two weeks ago. Then it was down to business. More than 160 G.O.P. Congressmen were eager to explain why they had voted to prevent consideration of a bill drastically overhauling the nation's tax code, and the President was just as eager to persuade them not to kill...
...like most of those new to adulthood, they stumbled in the beginning over distilled spirits. Out would come the whisky, the bons mots would fly, and the dinner hour would retreat. This bibulous behavior ceased one night after Michael heard a crash in the kitchen at 10:30 -- dinner yet to be served -- and found Elizabeth on her knees trying to salvage the salad. Soberly then, they matured together, washing dishes after their parties, discussing their evenings...
Even before the Gander crash, 1985 ranked as the worst year for aviation fatalities. The total (excluding the Soviet Union, which does not report its air accidents): 1,948, far beyond the previous 1974 record of 1,299. The disaster was also the second to strike American troops assigned to peacekeeping roles in the fractious Middle East. On Oct. 23, 1983, a terrorist's suicidal truck-bomb attack on a Marine headquarters in Beirut killed 241 servicemen. Though a Lebanon-based terror group, Islamic Jihad, claimed it had caused the latest crash with a bomb, Canadian officials quickly discouraged speculation...
Investigators from Canada's Aviation Safety Board, who rushed to oversee what may be a lengthy probe, were weighing several factors that might have played a role in the crash. Some U.S. air-safety experts, who had no firsthand information, pointed to the weather: ice had formed on other planes at Gander that night, and some pilots had taken deicing precautions. Captain John Griffin of the doomed aircraft had not. Other experts noted that the 90-ton aircraft, packed to capacity and loaded with more than 60 tons of fuel, may have been approaching its maximum load for a safe...
...Fort Campbell, some 200 relatives and friends had gathered for the expected early-morning homecoming of husbands, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. A military band was in place in the base gymnasium for a merry Christmas welcome. But reports of the crash soon spread through the crowd, and at 9 a.m. Brigade Commander John P. Herrling somberly confirmed the rumors...