Northwest Airlines Flight 255
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 16, 1987 |
| Type | Pilot Error |
| Site | Romulus, Michigan (western Detroit suburb - 25 miles away) |
| Fatalities | 156 |
| Injuries | 1 |
| 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 first fly to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan near Detroit to John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, with an intermediate stop at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. The flight crashed after takeoff in Detroit, on August 16, 1987, at about 20:46 EST, killing all of the crew and passengers except for a 4-year-old girl, who was seriously injured, according to a report by the FAA's Office of Aviation Research.
Contents |
[edit] 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.
[edit] Crash
Flight 255 began its takeoff rotation from 1,200 to 1,500 feet 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 1/2 mile 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.
[edit] Passenger injuries and fatalities
The lone survivor was 4-year-old Cecelia Cichan of Tempe, Arizona. 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].
[edit] 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.
[edit] In remembrance
In memory of the victims, a black fiber-glass memorial stands at the top of the hill surrounded by blue spruce trees at Middlebelt Road & Interstate 94 Overpass, the site of the crash. To this day, this crash is still one of the most disastrous aircraft accidents in U.S. History. On the memorial has a doves 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.
