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]
Northwest Airlines Flight 255
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
Date
August 16, 1987
Summary
Improper take-off configuration due to pilot error, mis-management of aircraft, and confusion[2]
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.
