 Aftermath of the Flight 255 crash: Aircraft debris field scattered along Middlebelt Road. The near bridge is the Norfolk Southern railroad, and the far bridges are the I-94 freeway. | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 16, 1987 |
| Summary | Crashed on takeoff due to improper flaps and slats configuration[1] |
| Site | Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Detroit, Michigan, United States 42°14′24″N 83°19′40″W / 42.2400°N 83.3277°W |
| Total fatalities | 156 |
| Total injuries | 6 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas MD-82 |
| Operator | Northwest Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | NW255 |
| ICAO flight No. | NWA255 |
| Call sign | NORTHWEST 255 |
| Registration | N312RC[2] |
| Flight origin | MBS International Airport, Saginaw, Michigan, United States |
| 1st 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, about 8:46 pm EDT (00:46 UTC August 17), resulting in the deaths of all six crew members and 148 of the 149 passengers, along with two people on the ground. The sole survivor was a 4-year-old girl who sustained serious injuries. It was the second-deadliest aviation accident at the time in the United States.[3][4] It is also the deadliest aviation accident to have a sole survivor,[5][a] the deadliest plane crash in the history of the state of Michigan,[6] and the worst crash in the history of Northwest Airlines.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
AAR-88-05 Final Reportwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "FAA Registry (N312RC)". Federal Aviation Administration.
- ^ "Accident Description: Northwest Airlines Flight 255". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. August 16, 1987. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "United States of America air safety profile". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
- ^ "Ten worst aircraft accidents with lone survivors". ASN News. Flight Safety Foundation. May 16, 2010. Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
- ^ "Michigan marks 36 years since tragic Northwest Flight 255 crash in Romulus". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).