Northwest Flight 255

Summary
Date	August 16, 1987
Cause	Pilot Error
Site	Romulus, Michigan (western Detroit suburb - 25 miles (40 km) away)
Origin	Tri-City Airport
Last stopover	Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
Destination	Sky Harbor International Airport
Fatalities	156 (2 on ground)
Injuries	6 (5 on ground)
Aircraft
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas MD-82
Operator	Northwest Airlines
Tail number	N312RC
Passengers	149
Crew	6
Survivors	1

Northwest Airlines Flight 255 was a flight that originated in Saginaw, Michigan's MBS International Airport 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 near Detroit and at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. The flight crashed after takeoff in Detroit, on August 16, 1987, at about 20:46 EDT (8:46 p.m. local time, 00:46 UTC August 17), killing all of the crew and passengers except for a 4-year-old girl, Cecelia Cichan, who was seriously injured, according to a report by the FAA's Office of Aviation Research.

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft was a twin-engine McDonnell Douglas MD-82 with FAA tail number N312RC. Northwest 255 was carrying 149 passengers and 6 crew. 2 were pedestrians.

Crash

Flight 255 began its takeoff rotation from 1,200 to 1,500 feet (366-457 m) from the runway's end. During the initial climb, the plane rolled about 35 degrees in each direction. The left wing struck a light pole about ½ mile (800 m) from the end of the runway, struck other light poles, the roof of a car rental building and then the ground. The aircraft continued skidding across the ground on the runway centerline near I-94.

Passenger injuries and fatalities

The lone survivor was 4-year-old Cecelia Cichan of Tempe, Arizona.^[1] A popular, but untrue, story credited her mother, Paula Cichan, with saving Cecelia's life. Supposedly Paula Cichan wrapped herself around the seat that her daughter occupied, protecting Cecelia from the post-crash fire. Cecelia was located by rescue workers in her seat – several feet away from her mother's body. Paula Cichan died in the crash, along with Cecelia's father, Michael Cichan, and her 6-year-old brother, David Cichan.^[2] After the crash Cecelia Cichan lived with relatives in Birmingham, Alabama, who shielded her from public attention. She graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the spring of 2006 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.^[3]

One of the passengers on Northwest 255 who died was Nick Vanos, a center for the Phoenix Suns basketball team. Two motorists on nearby Middlebelt Road were also killed. Five other persons on the ground were injured, one seriously. A memorial marker has been erected [1]. The site of the temporary morgue for crash victims was a nearby ice arena on Merriman Road, alledged by some to be haunted to this day .

Aftermath

The NTSB probable cause statement is as follows: "The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the flightcrew's failure to use the taxi checklist to ensure the flaps and slats were extended for takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the absence of electrical power to the airplane takeoff warning system which thus did not warn the flightcrew that the airplane was not configured properly for takeoff. The reason for the absence of electrical power could not be determined."

The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) provided the evidence regarding the flightcrew omission of the taxi checklist. The stall warning was annunciated. Using the CVR the investigators determined that the aural takeoff warning was not annunciated. There was an electrical failure due to a circuit breaker being tripped, but post accident testing did not reveal a malfunction of the circuit breaker.

In remembrance

In memory of the victims, a black granite memorial stands at the top of the hill surrounded by blue spruce trees at Middlebelt Road & Interstate 94 Overpass, the site of the crash. The memorial has a dove with a ribbon in its beak saying "Their spirit still lives on..." and below it are the names of those who perished in the crash.

A monument to the victims of the crash, many of whom were from the Phoenix Area, stands next to Phoenix City Hall in downtown Phoenix. [2]

On August 16, 2007, the twentieth anniversary of the crash, a memorial service was held at the crash site. For some, it was the first time they had returned to the site since the crash.

References

See also

• List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners

External links

• Check-Six.com - The Crash of Northwest #255 - Includes CVR recording & full passenger list
• NTSB Full Report
• NTSB Probable Cause
• 20th Anniversary of Flight 255

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