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.

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
Site	Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Romulus, Michigan, U.S. 42.2400°N 83.3277°W / 42.2400; -83.3277
Total fatalities	156
Total injuries	6
Aircraft
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas MD-82
Operator	Northwest Airlines
IATA flight No.	NW255
ICAO flight No.	NWA255
Call sign	NORTHWEST 255
Registration	N312RC
Flight origin	MBS International Airport, Saginaw, Michigan, United States
1st stopover	Detroit Metropolitan Airport Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Last stopover	Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Destination	John Wayne Airport, Santa Ana, California, United States
Occupants	155
Passengers	149
Crew	6
Fatalities	154
Injuries	1 (serious)
Survivors	1
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities	2
Ground injuries	5

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, 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.

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.