Northwest Airlines Flight 255
Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashed in Romulus, Michigan shortly and exploding into flames after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on August 16, 1987, at about 8:46 p.m. EDT (00:46 UTC August 17) killing all six crew members and 148 passengers and two people on the ground. There was only one survivor, it was a 4-year-old girl, Cecelia Cichan, who sustained serious injuries.[1]
 Aftermath of the Flight 255 crash: Aircraft debris field scattered along Middlebelt Road. The near bridge is the Norfolk Southern railroad, and the far bridges are the I-94 freeway. | |
| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 16, 1987 |
| Summary | Improper take-off configuration due to pilot error, mis-management of aircraft, and confusion[2] |
| Place | Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Romulus, Michigan, U.S. 42°14′24″N 83°19′40″W / 42.2400°N 83.3277°WCoordinates: 42°14′24″N 83°19′40″W / 42.2400°N 83.3277°W |
| Passengers | 149 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 1 (serious) |
| Fatalities | 154 |
| Survivors | 1 |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 |
| Airline/user | Northwest Airlines |
| Registration | N312RC |
| Flew from | MBS International Airport, Saginaw, Michigan, United States |
| 1st stopover | Detroit Metropolitan Airport Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Last stopover | Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
| Flying to | John Wayne Airport, Santa Ana, California, United States |
It was the second-deadliest aviation accident at the time in the United States and the second-deadliest involving the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series; as of 2013[update], the crash is the fourth-deadliest in both categories and the third-deadliest sole-survivor incident in aviation history. The flight and its two pilots originated at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport,[3] flying to MBS International Airport in Saginaw, Michigan, and was scheduled to terminate at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, with intermediate stops at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan (outside of Detroit, Michigan) and Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona.
The MD-80 was prepared during the pushback, but in the rush, the pilots forgot to deploy the flaps for takeoff. As the aircraft lined up on Runway 32C, the pilots skipped over the flap check. After receiving takeoff clearance, the first officer applies takeoff thrust, but the Takeoff Configuration Warning System does not activate.
The aircraft was rotated upon passing rotation speed, but failed to get into the skies, and almost overran the runway. Just as the aircraft became airborne, the stall recognition system and stick shaker activated, and the aircraft began to roll side to side just under 50 feet above the ground. The left wing strikes a light pole and a car rental building, and the burning aircraft then crashes into Middlebelt Road and slides for a few hundred feet before hitting a car and exploding.
154 people on board the aircraft are killed; the sole survivor of the accident was at the time 4-year-old Cecelia Cichan, who obtained serious injuries while pinned in her seat with her seatbelt still strapped.
Northwest Airlines Flight 255 Media
N309RC, an aircraft similar to the one involved
NTSB diagram of Flight 255's takeoff and crash
Northwest Flight 255 Memorial Stone at GM Proving Ground, Milford, Michigan
Northwest Flight 255 memorial plaque in downtown Phoenix
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References
- ↑ "Flight 255". Robert Ankony.
- ↑ "Aircraft Accident Report, Northwest Airlines, Inc. McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82, N312RC, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Romulus, Michigan, August 16, 1987" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. May 10, 1988. NTSB/AAR-88/05. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r9_kzJOr-Q National Geographic's "Mayday/Air Crash Investigation" - Cockpit Chaos (Alarming Silence).
