36 Years Ago: Remembering MI’s Deadliest Plane Crash in History

36 Years ago, Michigan endured its deadliest plane crash in history.

On August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed shortly after taking off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Michigan. The flight was en route to Phoenix, Arizona.

Get our free mobile app

The devastating crash claimed the lives of 154 people, along with two others on the ground who were tragically killed by falling debris.

Flight 255 Survivor

Only one person survived the crash, a four-year-old girl named Cecelia Cichan. Cichan, now 40 years old has a tattoo of a plane on her wrist to commemorate the tragedy.

While in her early 30s, Cecelia Cichan talked with CNN about the tragic incident.

The National Transportation Safety Board:

 After liftoff, the wings of the airplane rolled to the left and the right about 35" in each direction. The airplane collided with obstacles northeast of the runway when the left wing struck a light pole at the runway. Thereafter the airplane struck other light poles, the roof of a rental car facility, and then the ground. It continued to slide along a path aligned generally with the extended centerline of the takeoff runway. The airplane broke up as it slid across the ground and post-impact fires erupted along the wreckage path.

What Caused Flight 255 to Crash?

The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the crash. It was determined that the probable cause of the accident was a combination of factors, including the failure of the flight crew to properly configure the flaps and slats for takeoff. The crew's failure to extend the wing flaps and slats led to the aircraft's inability to gain enough lift during takeoff.

Flight 255 remains one of the deadliest aviation disasters in U.S. history.