[21] Annual meet-ups had become a tradition. Even after it merged with Delta, the number has still not been used. As of. At 20:44:04, Flight 255 was cleared for takeoff. VICTIMS OF FLIGHT 255 - The Washington Post VICTIMS OF FLIGHT 255 Following are names of 155 of at least 156 victims in the crash of a Northwest Airlines jet Sunday at Detroit. Graves along with singer Mindi Odom recorded a song in the summer of 2019, shortly after visiting the crash site memorial on Middlebelt off I-94 honoring those who died in the crash. This Material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form. Other than one training report during his probationary period, all of the airline's captains with whom Dodds had flown graded him as average or above average. However, examinations of flight 255s Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and FDR showed that the airplane had not encountered a decreasing headwind type of wind shear. Copyright 2022 by WDET and Wayne State University. Rhett Bushongs suitcase arrived in Orange County unscathed late Sunday night--presumably aboard the Continental flight he was originally booked on. Citation five ninety four Charlie charlie metro tower winds three zero zero at thirteen runway three right cleared to land where are you parking on the field. In Loving Memory: Listed below are names of Passengers and Crew Members who lost their lives in the crash. Following the investigation, the Safety Board concluded that the supervisors decision was reasonable. Within minutes, the plane began to roll from side to side just. The reason for the absence of electrical power could not be determined. Okay position and hold northwest one eighty five. Editors note: the following is a first-person remembrance. The crew also received a brief weather report. The Safety Boards performance study examined the climb profiles and the planes ability to clear obstacles beyond the end of runway 3C. Their spirit lives on.". [1]:6 At the time of the accident, the aircraft was painted in a hybrid livery between Northwest Airlines and Republic Airlines, featuring blue Republic striping with red Northwest titles and a white tail. The crash of Northwest Flight 2501 into southern Lake Michigan on June 24, 1950, marked the worst American aviation accident at the time when all 58 people aboard lost their lives. J. Cathie Corona, 44, St. Clair Shores, Mich. Lewis Dresch, 45, Sterling Heights, Mich. Peter Frank, age and hometown unavailable. Was that the reason the plane spent only 30 seconds in the . All week, the Wayne County Sheriffs Department has been shuttling members of crash victims families between an airport motel and the temporary morgue, set up in an airplane hangar near the crash site. ((Sound similar to nose gear strut extension)), ((Sound similar to nose wheel spinning down)). He still remembers that day vividly. including Northwest Airlines flight 255 at Detroit, Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, Continental Airlines flight 1713 in Denver, United Airlines flight 811 over the Pacific Ocean, United Airlines . At about 6:53 PM, on Sunday, August 16th, 1987, Flight 255 departed Saginaw and, at 7:42 PM, arrived at its terminal gate at the Detroit-Metro Airport. Theyre not willing to accept it . Offering Aviation History & Adventure First-Hand! Flight attendant Bruce R. Elfering, 23, Eagan. The takeoff performance data that was in the flight crews package was based on using either runway 21L or 21R. Twenty years ago today, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 from Detroit to Phoenix crashed moments after taking off. Two motorists on Middlebelt Road were also killed. Virginia Robinson. Shortly after it took off from Metro Airport around 8:45 p.m. on a Sunday evening, the MD-82 airplane bound for Phoenix stalled and struck a light pole near the end of the runway, ripping a hole in the left wing and igniting the jet fuel stored there. DETROIT, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Many remember the tragic crash of Northwest Airlines flight 255 off of I-94. So over the years, hes used a website and social media to keep everyone connected. PHOENIX Thirty-five years ago, countless lives were changed forever when an airliner crashed shortly after take-off, killing everyone on board except a four-year-old girl. The report says another contributing factor to the crash was an unexplained power outage to the jets takeoff warning system, which failed to alert the flight crew the plane was not ready to fly. Maus had logged 20,859 flight hours during his career, including 1,359 hours on the MD-82. Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82, U.S. I have never seen such complete destruction, he said. Virginia Robinson, 45, Fountain Valley, Calif. Capt. Two people on the ground also died. ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? The names and ages, where available, were compiled from various sources, including the Wayne County medical examiner's office and relatives who were notified by the airline. 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The remnants of Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 255 lay along Middle Belt road just south of I-94. The plane began to break apart, bursting into flames as it hit a railroad and an overpass on I-94. And I remember that humid night 30 years ago. Other pilots who had recently flown with Dodds later described his performance The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-217 turbofan engines. The Bushongs have mostly stayed in Toledo since the crash. The plane . Maus was an experienced pilot who had worked for the airline for 31 years, flying Fairchild F-27, Boeing 727, Boeing 757, McDonnell Douglas DC-9, and McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft. It was just one of those mothers instincts.. One hundred forty-eight passengers and six crew members were killed in the crash. But many remain, clustered in their hotels or at the airport lounge, exchanging stories and compassion with strangers who share their tragedy. Most were traveling to the GM Desert Proving Ground in Mesa, Arizona. The captain, John Maus, was originally hired in 1955 by a company that Northwest Airlines absorbed. Her brother, William Best, 36, and his wife, Kathryn, 32, with their three young children had visited the Syracuse, New York area where he grew up and were connecting through Detroit on Flight 255 to get back home to Arizona. Only one person survived: a four-year-old girl with brown eyes, a chipped tooth, and purple nail polish. Contributing to the accident was the absence of electrical power to the airplane takeoff warning system which thus did not warn the flightcrew that the airplane was not configured properly for takeoff. Flight attendant Michael L. Kahle, 34, LeSueur, Minn. More than 30 of the passengers were under the age of 25; two 12-year-olds were unaccompanied minors. February 10, 2020 / 10:23 PM [17] The memorial has a dove with a ribbon in its beak reading, "Their spirit still lives on"; below it are the names of those who perished in the crash. [19], On August 16, 2012, the 25th anniversary of the crash, another memorial service was held at the crash site. As the plane rushed down the runway, it lifted only 40 feet off the ground. trial was to have determined whether and to what degree Northwest and McDonnell Douglas were to blame for the crash of Flight 255 on takeoff from Detroit for . Nick Vanos, a 24-year-old center for the Phoenix Suns, was killed. The jetliner was bound for Phoenix, and many of the victims were from the Valley. The devastation claimed the lives of six crew members and 148 passengers, along with two people on the ground. Shortly after dropping him off, he witnessed the second worst air disaster in the United States history, the crash of Northwest Flight 255, the flight that he skipped. 6. We heard no weather warnings, just news terrible news. Flight attendant Michael L. Kahle, 34, LeSueur, Minn. On Sunday, Rhett Bushongs grandmother drove him to the airport here, where he checked in for his flight to Orange County on Continental Airlines. Northwest fourteen sixty six metro tower traffic your following is a very short final runway three left cleared to land winds three zero zero at one three. So I got on the shoulder and drove very fast until I stopped and talked with a sheriffs deputy, who said he had stopped traffic when he saw a giant fireball in the sky.. Upon completion of an individual checklist, the pilot completing the checklist will state (CHECKLIST NAME) CHECKLIST COMPLETE.. This summer will mark 26 years since Northwest Flight 255 crashed onto the highway outside Detroit Metro Airport. 156 ( 154 + 2) . She spoke publicly about the accident for the first time in 2013 as part of a documentary on sole survivors of disasters. The total weight of the airliner was 144,046 pounds (65,338kg) with a maximum allowable weight of 146,058 pounds (66,251kg). [1]:6, The flight's first officer was 35-year-old David J. Dodds, from Galena, Illinois. Hidi was among at least 154 passengers killed Sunday night when Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed on takeoff from Detroits Metropolitan Airport. 45. Northwest one eighty five metro tower three center taxi into position and hold you have about three minutes two to three minutes on the runway. Flight 255 is the seventh deadliest plane crash in United States history, and is the deadliest aviation disaster to have a sole survivor. The Indian investigative team ruled that the probable cause was the pilots selecting the "Open descent/flight idle" control mode rather . "When we pulled up, I didn'tthink we would find anybody," said Thiede, who still works for the Romulus Fire Department. A black granite memorial erected in 1994 in memory of the victims of Northwest Airlines Flight 255 McDonnell Douglas MD-82, which crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on August 16, 1987. The support from the group of other Flight 255 relatives has been her salvation., I consider us family, Marsh said. Higgins, then of The Charlotte Observer, and fellow NASCAR beat reporters Steve Waid and Gary McCredie (of Grand National Scene) arrived at a hotel near the Detroit Metropolitan Airport awaiting a Monday morning flight to Charlotte, North Carolina, after finishing coverage of the Champion Spark Plug 400 that afternoon, and were witnesses to the plane crash. The MD-82's rate of climb was greatly reduced as a result of the flaps not being extended,[1]:67 and about 2,760ft (840m) past the end of runway 3C, the plane's left wing struck a light pole in an airport rental car lot. Knowing those lost will not be forgotten. On Aug. 16, 1987, Geiger, 36, his wife, Valerie, and daughters Lauren and Lisa of Gilbert, were among 154 people on Northwest Flight 255 killed when the plane crashed in Romulus, Mich.,. Many will do so again on Aug. 16, 2017 at 8:46 p.m., the time of the accident. [14] This circuit breaker also controls some of the stall warning sounds. The National Traffic Safety Administration determines that the probable cause of the accident was the flight crews failure to use the taxi checklist to ensure that the flaps and slats were extended for takeoff. NTSB Aircraft Accident Report, page 68. The couple was headed back home to Arizona after spending a week with family in Owosso. Welcome to 16 August 1987, nine days before I was born.It's nearly 8:30 p.m., and it's not a good time to be an airplane.If you tune into Detroit's CBS affiliate right now (VHF Channel 4, if you're a time traveler), you'll catch Murder, She Wrote right at my favorite part: the investigative hijinks. Thiede recalled the rainy night of the crash when he heard amoaning voiceand saw a little arm flailing from the wreckage. The airline has been extremely protective of the families privacy, even taking the highly unusual step of withholding the list of those who were on the flight. She was found several feet from the bodies of her family. 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; Robinson, known to her friends as Ginger, and her family had been visiting relatives in Pontiac, Mich. Family friends said Robinson was returning early to get to her job Monday as a receptionist in a Garden Grove doctors office. That fireball was caused by the impact of the DC-9 jet crashing onto Middlebelt Road. In one part of the hangar, working at a task that a medical examiners staff member said has devastated even veteran accident investigators, forensic pathologists and dentists studied remains of the victims, looking for clues that would lead to their identification. First Officer Dodds called rotate at 8:45 and a second later, the stall warning stick shaker activated and continued operating until the recording ended. One hundred fifty-seven people were killed. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Sole Survivor was a 4-year-old girl, Cecelia Cichan, who sustained serious injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the crash. At roughly 20:32 EDT, Flight 255 departed the gate in Detroit with 149 passengers (including 21 children) and six crew members. Metro tower lifeguard copter one zero two. The crew was also informed about the update of the automatic terminal information service information, to which Dodds reported on weather data update. The fuselage explodedinto thousands of pieces. 1. Interviews with first officers and other captains who had flown with him described him as a competent and capable pilot. According to witnesses, flight 255 began its takeoff rotation about 1,200 to 1,500 feet from the end of the runway and lifted off near the end of the runway. By: Fab. Behnke and his dad were just about to leave for Phoenix Sky Harbor to pick his mom up when they got the call. Word of Robinsons death pained neighbors and friends at the Faith Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, where she was superintendent of Sunday school and her husband is chairman of the church board of directors. Also, a marker stone is located at the General Motors Proving Ground in Milford, MI, in memory of the 14 GM employees and seven family members who were killed in the crash. Shortly after take-off, 156 people were killed in one of the deadliest plane crashes in US history. The sole survivor of the crash was Cecilia Cichan, a four-year-old girl from Tempe, Arizona, who was returning home alongside her mother, Paula, father, Michael, and a six-year-old brother, David, after visiting relatives in Pennsylvania. The crash is the seventh worst aviation accident in U.S. history. Other pilots described the two as "competent and capable.". There were 148 deaths -- and one miraculous survivor. Jerome D. Cook, 48, Phoenix, off-duty Northwest employe. On Tuesday, those who had loved ones on that tragic flight remembered them with a memorial service in Phoenix. That flight was delayed, so Rhett switched to Northwest Flight 255. Virginia Robinson, 45, Fountain Valley, Calif. Capt. You can check out the full NTSB report below: The flight crew and all but one passenger were killed instantly. The Safety Board concluded that the airplane had not encountered a wind shear and directed its investigation elsewhere. I was getting to the end of my shift, it was getting to be twilight when we got word that something had happened at Metro, Rick recalls. Immediately after the runway change message, he had to verify runway 3C use with the takeoff performance chart. Melvin C. Roundy, 53, Mesa, off-duty Northwest employe. It remains one of the worst disasters in U.S. aviation history. The wreckage stretched across half a mile. Kobe Bryant, 41 ans, un des plus clbres joueurs de basket-ball de la NBA, avait pris sa retraite en 2016.. bord de l'hlicoptre se trouvaient galement sa fille de treize ans, Gianna, qui jouait . It was still operated by MD-82 alongside DC-9 and Boeing 727 but were replaced by Boeing 757 and Airbus A320 in the 1990s. 2023 www.detroitnews.com. Her friend was eight years old and died alongside her parents and older brother. The National Transportation Safety Board conducted a full investigation of the crash. [22][23] She did not speak publicly about the crash until 2013, when the documentary was released. Flight NW255 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight between Saginaw, Michigan and Santa Ana, California, with en route stops at Detroit and Phoenix, Arizona. Maintenance records showed that there was no evidence of any preexisting malfunctions or failures of any airplane structures or systems which would have contributed to the crash. Family and friends of Flight 255 victims gathered at the memorial site for a ceremony at 8 p.m. Wednesday to honor the lives of their loved ones. This evidence suggested that the aircraft had encountered a wind shear that decreased its performance capability. The 35-year-old first officer, David Dodds, was hired in 1979. There was lots to celebrate: Reid Bushongs parents 50th wedding anniversary, the wedding of one of his nieces and the 30th reunion of his 1957 DeVilbiss High School class. Two people on the ground were also killed. Here is a look back at this Southeast Michigan tragedy. Flight 255 crash scene / Photos courtesy of Getty Images and The Associated Press. Northwest Airlines Flight 255 memorial (Bing Maps). James Wieging, who ministered to families who lost loved ones during the Northwest Airlines Flight 255 disaster at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in 1987 as well as in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, died Aug. 11 at the age of 79. 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