Northwest Airlines Flight 255

Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashed in Romulus, Michigan shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on August 16, 1987, at about 8:46 p.m. EDT (00:46 UTC August 17). It killed 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
DateAugust 16, 1987
SummaryImproper take-off configuration due to pilot error, mis-management of aircraft, and confusion[2]
SiteDetroit Metropolitan Airport,
Romulus, Michigan, U.S.
42.2400°N 83.3277°W / 42.2400; -83.3277
Total fatalities156
Total injuries6
Aircraft
Aircraft typeMcDonnell Douglas MD-82
OperatorNorthwest Airlines
IATA flight No.NW255
ICAO flight No.NWA255
Call signNORTHWEST 255
RegistrationN312RC
Flight originMBS International Airport,
Saginaw, Michigan, United States
1st stopoverDetroit Metropolitan Airport
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Last stopoverSky Harbor International Airport,
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
DestinationJohn Wayne Airport,
Santa Ana, California, United States
Occupants155
Passengers149
Crew6
Fatalities154
Injuries1 (serious)
Survivors1
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities2
Ground injuries5

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, 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.

References
  1. "Flight 255". Robert Ankony.
  2. "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.
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r9_kzJOr-Q National Geographic's "Mayday/Air Crash Investigation" - Cockpit Chaos (Alarming Silence).



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