On August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing all but one of the 155 people on board. The sole survivor was four-year-old Cecelia Cichan.
Crash sequence and cause
The aircraft, carrying more than 145 passengers, clipped a streetlight and "went down" shortly after takeoff, plummeting into a busy road and bursting into flames. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined the likely cause to be the flight crew's "failure to set flaps and slats for takeoff."
A power failure affecting the aircraft's "central aural warning system" meant the crew were unable to receive adequate warnings regarding their incorrect takeoff configuration, leaving them completely oblivious to their mistake and the looming disaster.
Impact and ground casualties
Following clearance for takeoff, the aircraft began its climb, but without the flaps properly deployed, its rate of ascent was considerably reduced. As it neared the end of the runway, the plane's left wing struck a streetlight pole in a neighbouring car park. The wing immediately caught fire, causing the aircraft to roll and slam into the roof of an Avis Car Rental building. The aircraft then tilted and nose-dived onto Middlebelt Road, colliding with several vehicles and claiming the lives of two individuals in one of the cars. A further five people on the ground suffered injuries.
The plane disintegrated, with debris scattering across the carriageway before bursting into flames. There were six crew members on board, alongside 149 passengers. All perished except for Cecelia Cichan.
Discovery of the sole survivor
Young Cecelia had been travelling with her mother Paula, her father Michael, and her older brother David, who was six years old at the time. The aircraft had completed numerous stopovers and the family were due to alight at its final stop of Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, following a visit to relatives in Pennsylvania, before the plane pressed on to California. Romulus firefighter John Thiede found Cecelia still strapped in her seat after hearing her "whimpering in the wreckage."
On the 39th anniversary of the disaster on August 16, 2026, Cecelia's story was shared on Facebook by The 911 Vault. The social media page wrote: "Rescuers believed Paula [Cecelia's mother] had shielded her daughter with her own body" though Cecelia has no recollection of this to confirm whether this is actually what occurred. The post continued: "She was pulled out with a fractured skull, a broken leg and collarbone and third-degree burns, and spent 54 days in a burn unit."
Cecelia was raised by her aunt and uncle in Alabama and was "kept away from the cameras", remaining "silent for 25 years before speaking publicly in the 2013 documentary Sole Survivor, where she said she thinks about the crash every day." Cecelia has "a tattoo of an airplane on her left wrist."
