kids encyclopedia robot

Northwest Airlines Flight 255 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
NW255 crashsite
The crash site

Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashed in Romulus, Michigan shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on August 16, 1987, at about 8:46 p.m. EDT (00:46 UTC August 17). It killed all six crew members and 148 passengers. There was only one survivor, it was a 4-year-old girl, Cecelia Cichan, who sustained serious injuries.

It was the second-deadliest aviation accident at the time in the United States and the second-deadliest involving the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series; as of 2013, the crash is the fourth-deadliest in both categories and the deadliest sole-survivor incident in aviation history. The flight and its two pilots originated at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, flying to MBS International Airport in Saginaw, Michigan, and was scheduled to terminate at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, with intermediate stops at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan (outside of Detroit, Michigan) and Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona.

Images for kids

  • Northwest flight 255

    N312RC, the aircraft involved in the accident, landing at John Wayne Airport, one year before the crash

  • Flight255Memorial

    Flight 255 Memorial, I-94 and Middlebelt Road, Romulus, Michigan

  • Flight255 Memorial GM Proving Ground

    Northwest Flight 255 Memorial Stone at GM Proving Ground, Milford, Michigan

  • Northwest Flight 255 Memorial in downtown Phoenix

    Northwest Flight 255 memorial plaque in downtown Phoenix

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Vuelo 255 de Northwest Airlines para niños

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Northwest Airlines Flight 255 Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.