Thirty-nine years ago, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed moments after taking off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing everyone on board except a toddler. The plane was headed to Phoenix on Aug. 16, 1987.
Crash Details
The plane cleared the runway at 8:46 p.m. and began to tilt. The left wing clipped a light pole before the plane sheared the roof off a rental car building. The plane then crashed onto Middlebelt Road, just north of Wick Road, and burst into flames. During the crash, it struck vehicles on the road, killing two people.
The crash killed 154 people aboard the plane — all six crew members and 148 passengers. Cecelia Cichan, who was 4 years old at the time, survived. She was traveling home with her mother, father and brother. Cichan suffered severe burns, broken bones and a skull fracture.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the flight crew failed to properly set the wing flaps for takeoff. The agency also found that a cockpit warning system failed to alert the crew to the problem because of an electrical issue.
Original reporting: Warren | FOX 2 Detroit — read the source article.
