(WXYZ) — Friday marks the 37th anniversary of the worst plane crash in Michigan history. On August 16, 1987, Northwest Flight 255 took off from Romulus toward Arizona – it didn’t get far.
Investigators blame a series of pilot errors for the crash, but the most important thing is the lives lost: 156 people died that day – all but one person on board and two people who were in vehicles near I-94 and Middlebelt Road.
Watch our 2012 report on the 25th anniversary of the crash in the video player above or below.
WXYZ report on the 25th anniversary of the fatal crash of Northwest Flight 255
Firefighters who arrived that night had no idea what to expect. The initial report of a plane crash barely shed any light on the fact that it was a passenger plane – Lt. John Thiede of the Romulus Fire Department described his rescue efforts to 7 Action News in 2013. He explained that he and another firefighter heard a faint moaning or screaming sound and tried to locate the source.
“I examined three or four passengers. After about the fourth, I saw a chair turned over,” said Thiede. “I pushed the chair to the right and examined the lady underneath – she had no signs of life. Then I saw the arm sticking out of the chair.”
This arm belonged to Cecelia Cichan – she has since married and now calls herself Cecelia Crocker.
Report on Northwest Flight 255 from WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit on Scribd
