(CBS-DETROIT) – It has been 37 years since Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed after takeoff from Detroit Metro Airport. It was the worst plane crash in Michigan history.
In the tragic accident, all passengers except one, a four-year-old child, were killed.
Flight 255 crashes shortly after takeoff
Flight 255 was a scheduled flight from Saginaw to Santa, California, with stops in Detroit and Phoenix, Arizona.
On August 16, 1987, at approximately 8:44 p.m., the flight from Detroit to Phoenix was cleared for takeoff. There were 149 passengers and six crew members on board.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, witnesses reported that Flight 255 took off near the end of the runway.
“After takeoff, the airplane rolled left, right, and then struck obstructions northeast of the runway when the left wing struck a light pole located 2,760 feet beyond the end of the runway,” the NTSB said. “The airplane then struck additional light poles, the roof of a rental car facility, and then the ground. The airplane broke up as it skidded across the ground, and fires broke out along the debris trail after impact.”
All but one passenger and a four-year-old killed in Flight 255 crash
After striking the roof of a car rental building, the plane crashed onto Middlebelt Road at about 8:46 p.m. Flames blazed along the entire wreckage trail left by the plane. Three occupied vehicles on the road and several unoccupied vehicles in the car rental parking lot were destroyed, according to the NTSB.
All crew members and 148 passengers were killed. A 4-year-old child was the only passenger to survive the crash.
Two people on the ground were killed, one person was seriously injured and four people were slightly injured.
NTSB investigation into Flight 255
An NTSB investigation found that the “probable cause” of the tragic crash was the crew’s failure to use the taxi checklist and ensure that the flaps and slats were extended before flight.
In addition, the investigation found that Flight 255’s takeoff warning system had failed, which the NTSB said contributed to the crash because crew members were not alerted that the plane was “improperly configured” for takeoff. Investigators were unable to determine why that system failed.
Firefighter reflects on Flight 255 crash
Last year, firefighter John Thiede one of the first firefighters from Romulus to arrive at the scenethought about the tragedy.
Thiede, who was 21 at the time of the accident, recalled finding four-year-old Cecilia Cichan, the only survivor of the crash.
“There was a seat turned over, we moved the chair and looked underneath. When we looked, we saw that a hand was sticking out of the chair she was sitting on,” Thiede told CBS Detroit last year.
Family members gather near the crash site every year to keep the memory alive.
