Northwest Airlines Flight 255 was a flight scheduled to fly from 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, killing all of the passengers except for a young girl.

The flight used a McDonnell-Douglas DC-9, an MD-82 model in specific, which was filled with 149 passengers and 6 crew. During the takeoff phase, the wings of Northwest 255 began to roll to the left and to the right after climbing only 50 ft. The left wing then struck the light poles and the roof of a building that was used by a rental car agency. The DC-9 crashed, killing all aboard the plane except for 4-year-old Cecelia Cichan of Tempe, Arizona. Two motorists on a nearby highway (I-94 which is adjacent to the airport) were also killed.

The NTSB investigation indicated that the flaps were in the up position and the slats were in the retract position, opposite their normal position for takeoff. The cockpit recorder showed that the taxi checklist was not recited by the pilots.

One of the passengers on Northwest 255 who died was Nick Vanos, a center for the Phoenix Suns basketball team.

See also

• List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners

External link

• NTSB report