Northwest Airlines Flight 255
Scattered aircraft debris at Middlebelt Road | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 16, 1987 |
| Summary | Pilot error; Loss of control on takeoff due to improper flaps and slats configuration |
| Site | |
| Total fatalities | 156 |
| Total injuries | 6 |
| Aircraft | |
| N312RC, the aircraft involved in the accident, while still in service with Republic Airlines in 1986 | |
| 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 | Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, Fort Snelling, Minnesota, United States (As Flight 750) |
| 1st stopover | MBS International Airport, Saginaw, Michigan, United States |
| 2nd stopover | Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Romulus, Michigan, United States |
| 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 |
| Survivors | 1 |
| Ground casualties | |
| Ground fatalities | 2 |
| Ground injuries | 5 |
On August 16, 1987, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating as Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport at about 20:46 EDT (00:46 UTC August 17). All six crew members and 148 of the 149 passengers, as well as two people on the ground, were killed. The sole survivor was four-year-old girl Cecelia Cichan, who sustained serious injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the accident was the flight deck crew's failure to set flaps and slats for takeoff. A contributing factor was a lack of power to the aircraft's central aural warning system, which prevented the takeoff warning system from providing an audio alert to the crew of the improper takeoff configuration.