The National Transportation Safety Board later determined the planes crew failed to use a checklist to ensure that wing flaps and slats were extended. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. He is an amateur musician. Even with time, however, the numbers do not tell the story. He moved through the debris and bodies with a flashlight and discovered Cecelia strapped in a seat turned upside down. More than 30 of the passengers were under 25. Please enter valid email address to continue. Weve stayed very close, said Ratliff, whose daughter and ex-wife moved to California 14 years ago. I was getting to the end of my shift, it was getting to be twilight when we got word that something had happened at Metro, Rick recalls. [1]:2526[11] After the crash, Cichan moved to live with her maternal aunt and uncle in Birmingham, Alabama. Erica Thomsen, 61, Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Ernest John Mathews, 38, Sterling Heights, Mich. Eric Mazade, 30, Grosse Pointe Park, Mich. Suzanne Morris, 35. VICTIMS OF FLIGHT 255 - The Washington Post VICTIMS OF FLIGHT 255 Following are names of 155 of at least 156 victims in the crash of a Northwest Airlines jet Sunday at Detroit. After missing a turn, the pilots contacted ground control who then redirected them back to runway 3C. Her father, Tom Polec of Rochester Hills, agreed as he surveyed the crowd of supporters. [1]:2 During the stopover in Detroit, a Northwest Airlines mechanic inspected the aircraft and the logbook. After the airplane was airborne, it began rolling from left to right. The interruption of the input power to the CAWS occurred at the P-40 circuit breaker. Something important to keep in mind, on December 15, 1986, an FAA-approved checklist change was made, removing FLAPS from the BEFORE TAKEOFF checklist, and moving it to the TAXI checklist. Donnie and Mary Ann Ratliff had the gruesome task this week of going to the temporary morgue at Detroit Metropolitan Airport to identify the personal belongings of their 16-year-old daughter, Hidi. The only survivor was four-year-old Cecelia Cichan. [18] Rick Pluta was a reporter for United Press International at the time. The victims of the crash included NBA player Nick Vanos, seven people from Orange County, California and a four-month old baby from Arizona. The NTSB was unable to determine a cause for the electrical-power failure in the central aural warning system (CAWS): "The failure of the takeoff warning system was caused by the loss of input 28V dc. Steve drove his coworker to the airport. But after a mechanical problem was detected, the Continental flight was delayed and its passengers were offered seats on the Northwest flight, Continental spokesman Rick Scott said. Also, a marker stone is located at the General Motors Proving Ground in Milford, MI, in memory of the 14 GM employees and seven family members who were killed in the crash. It helps them to be in the presence of so many others who suffered the same thing. ROMULUS, Mich. (FOX 2) - Thirty-five years ago, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed moments after taking off from Detroit Metro Airport, killing everyone on board expect for a toddler. . [10] She sustained severe burns and fractures to her skull, collarbone, and left leg. It was just one of those mothers instincts.. Following the crash, investigators started to attempt to gain an understanding of how Flight 255 crashed. A few miles from where we stood, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 from Detroit to Santa Ana, Calif. via Phoenix had crashed seconds after takeoff from Metro Airport. [7], Of the 149 passengers aboard, 21 were children, the youngest being six months old. Over the years, Thiede has kept in contact with Cichan. Tragically, Vanos' life was cut short on August 16, 1987 when his Phoenix-bound Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed on takeoff, killing 154 passengers.. The Safety Board had to exhaust all possible causes. The aircraft continued to slide on the road, hitting multiple rental cars, a railroad embankment, and three occupied vehicles before bursting into flames as it hit a railroad and an overpass on I-94. Following the investigation, the Safety Board concluded that the supervisors decision was reasonable. The NTSB published its final report on May 10, 1988, in which it concluded that the accident was caused by pilot error: "The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the flight crew's failure to use the taxi checklist to ensure that the flaps and slats were extended for takeoff. Morgan is a Digital Editor and has been with WDIV since May of 2022. On August 16, 1987, Northwest Flight 255 crashed shortly after taking off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing 156 people. [14] This circuit breaker also controls some of the stall warning sounds. "[1]:68, After the crash, Northwest retired the flight number 255 along with its counterpart flight number 254, which was the outbound flight from Phoenix to Detroit. At about 6:53 PM, on Sunday, August 16th, 1987, Flight 255 departed Saginaw and, at 7:42 PM, arrived at its terminal gate at the Detroit-Metro Airport. First Officer David J. Dodds, 35, Galena, Ill. All rights reserved. Flight attendant Bruce R. Elfering, 23, Eagan. And I remember that humid night 30 years ago. All these years later, Schaffer-Smith doesn't know if this pain will ever go away. It sits at the top of a hill at Middlebelt Road and I-94. Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines. The crew also received a brief weather report. electric power between the airplane's left dc. PHOENIX Thirty-five years ago, countless lives were changed forever when an airliner crashed shortly after take-off, killing everyone on board except a four-year-old girl. The sole survivor was a 4-year-old girl who sustained serious injuries. As for what caused the crash, an investigation conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board revealed it was a pilot error. The plane then hit an Avis car rental building and crashed onto Middlebelt, just north of Wick Road. This coincided with the missing sounds from the CVR of the incident flight.[14]. Behnke and his dad were just about to leave for Phoenix Sky Harbor to pick his mom up when they got the call. Many attendees had seen . The jetliner was bound for Phoenix, and many of the victims were from the Valley. "It was me and my sister's family at the house, you know, [I] just got done fishing with my best bud that day." With a full flight of passengers ready for departure and an experienced crew in the cockpit, their flight from Detroit to Phoenix was set to be smooth- once they got above the thunderstorms drenching the airport. Interviews with first officers and other captains who had flown with him described him as a competent and capable pilot. Flight NW255 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight between Saginaw, Michigan and Santa Ana, California, with en route stops at Detroit and Phoenix, Arizona. AP Photo Flowers and pictures are shown at the memorial Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012, in Romulus, Mich. to mark the 25th anniversary of the crash of Northwest Airlines Flight 255 near Detroit . The flight crashed after takeoff in . 2. 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 memorial (Bing Maps). The crash is the seventh worst aviation accident in U.S. history. She was found several feet from the bodies of her family. According to the crash report, all of these issues in the takeoff ultimately contributed to the overall system failure. Cecelia Cichan, whose married name is now Crocker, was the lone survivor of the crash. The Sole Survivor was a 4-year-old girl, Cecelia Cichan, who sustained serious injuries. He still remembers that day vividly. [22][23] She did not speak publicly about the crash until 2013, when the documentary was released. Theyre not willing to accept it . Ive never seen anything like it before or since.. It happened at 8:46 p.m. A black granite memorial erected in 1994 in memory of the victims of Northwest Airlines Flight 255 McDonnell Douglas MD-82, which crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on August 16, 1987. WDET is a community service of Wayne State University. The dispatch packet provided by the airline included takeoff performance data based on using runways 21L or 21R, but the flight was cleared for takeoff on Detroit's runway 3C, the shortest available runway. bus and the CAWS unit. Links: flight255memorial.com, virtualglobetrotting.com. On August 16, 1987 a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, operating as Northwest Airlines Flight 255, crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, about 8:46 pm EDT , resulting in the deaths of all six crew members and 148 of the 149 passengers, along with two people on the ground. The mechanic noted that there was no record of any maintenance being done on the airplane while it was at DTW. However, the airline has repeatedly said it will not release a passenger list. It was warm and muggy. Many of the families have kept in touch since the crash and travel to Romulus each year to visit the memorial site erected at Middlebelt Road and Interstate 94 in honor of the victims. Northwest Airlines reached settlements Tuesday in all remaining lawsuits filed by victims' relatives over a 1987 crash that killed 156 people. Memorials, Safari Submissions. However, examinations of flight 255s Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and FDR showed that the airplane had not encountered a decreasing headwind type of wind shear. In memory of the victims, a black granite memorial was erected in 1994; it stands (surrounded by blue spruce trees) at the top of the hill at Middlebelt Road and I-94, the site of the crash. Dodds again acknowledged the instructions and this time acknowledged the new frequency and switched to it. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-217 turbofan engines. _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); Seven were from Orange County, California, and the remainder were from Arizona, Michigan or other states. An investigation of their personal background and actions during the days before the accident also turned up normal. Virginia Robinson. trial was to have determined whether and to what degree Northwest and McDonnell Douglas were to blame for the crash of Flight 255 on takeoff from Detroit for . Her friend was eight years old and died alongside her parents and older brother. ((Sound similar to parking brake released)), Detroit tower (to Northwest Airlines Flight 1466). var _gaq = _gaq || []; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 1. She was covered in blood and had burns and broken bones, he said. Each time I drive through Middlebelt and Goddard, I see the burn marks on the railroad bridge just north of the intersection. Indian Airlines Flight 605 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Bombay to Bangalore.On 14 February 1990, an Airbus A320-231 registered as VT-EPN, crashed onto a golf course while attempting to land at Bangalore, killing 92 of 146 people on board.. 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