One of Worst Aviation Disasters Occurred in Romulus 35 Years Ago with Flight 255 Crash
Aug. 16—Some events are so traumatic they become seared into memory.
For those Downriver 35 years ago, such an event took place at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
On Aug. 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight No. 255 took off from runway 3C at 8:46 p.m. with 148 passengers and six crew members.
Within minutes, the plane began to roll from side to side just under 50 feet off the ground and nearly 2,800 feet past the end of the runway, the plane's left wing struck a light pole at an airport rental car lot.
Traveling nearly 200 mph, the wing caught fire and the plane rolled, hitting an Avis car rental building before crashing onto Middlebelt Road.
As a result of the crash, motorists were struck and the fuselage flew across the roadway just north of the Wick Road intersection.
It went down in history at the time as the second worst aviation disaster in the U.S. with everyone aboard killed except for one person, then 4-year-old Cecelia Cichan of Tempe, Arizona.
In addition to those on the plane, two people on the ground were killed and several others were injured.
The sole survivor was found by Romulus firemen still strapped in her seat suffering from severe burns and broken bones.
It was John Thiede, now a captain at the department, who found Cichan after a firefighter heard moaning sounds coming from the rubble.
"If there is a bright spot in this, she is it," Thiede told The News-Herald at the 30-year anniversary reflecting on the crash.
At that time, he said they keep in touch, but do not talk about the crash.
He even attended her wedding.
"I don't think I'll ever get that out of my mind," Thiede said at that milestone anniversary. "I travel that spot about four to seven times a week. I can see that site as it was. It's embedded in me."
Although pursued for interviews for years, it wasn't until 2013 that Cichan spoke publicly about the crash and losing her parents and brother in the wreckage.
It would take about a year before the National Transportation Safety Board would determine the cause to be pilot error, noting that a taxi checklist was not used to ensure the flaps and slats were extended for takeoff.
A black granite memorial now sits at the top of the hill at Middlebelt Road and I-94.
The names of all who died due to the crash are etched on the monument.
Other monuments can be found at City Hall in Phoenix, Arizona, in memory of the many passengers who were from that area, and at the General Motors Proving Ground in Milford. More than a dozen passengers were employees of the company.
Reports indicate the aircraft never rose more than 50 feet off the ground.
___
(c)2022 Voice News, New Baltimore, Mich.
Visit Voice News, New Baltimore, Mich. at https://www.voicenews.com/
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
