A tall, skinny redhead, the Saddleback coaches nicknamed him Red., Bushong had been booked on the Continental flight, but asked to be transferred when it developed problems. 1 of 9. The plane then rolled 90 degrees the opposite way and sheared off most of the right wing when it struck the roof of an Avis rental-car franchise near Middlebelt Road. In 1987, Northwest Airlines flight 255 crashed minutes after taking off from Detroit's Metro Airport, killing 154 people on board and two people on the ground, but leaving behind one tiny miracle. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the crash. Copyright 2019 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved. But their life is altered forever, and it's not easy for them to pick up and go on and there's very little of it that feels lucky to them.". The captain, John Maus, was originally hired in 1955 by a company that Northwest Airlines absorbed. Peter Frank, 25, had moved to Orange County in February from Florida, taking a job as a marketing manager for an electronics wholesale company in Irvine. Flight 255 crash scene / Photos courtesy of Getty Images and The Associated Press. Booked on Flight 255, Robert and David McKellar missed the plane home to Orange County when the car they had taken to the Detroit airport blew a radiator hose. Even today, he said he still struggles with survivor's guilt. When I saw him come off that plane, Rebecca Wilder recalled, I could hardly wait to put my arms around him.. 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. She had just checked her baggage at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport when the ticketing agent gave her the news: Flight 255 had crashed in Detroit. "I've cried harder than any man has ever cried, or any man should be able to cry," Polehinke said. The witnesses also stated that the flight rotation began about 1,200-1,500 feet from the end of the runway and that the tail of the aircraft came close to striking the runway. Theres a name for Friedman and other relatives of Flight 255 victims. The pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in River Rouge and chaplain of the Wayne County Sheriffs department had heard about the deadly crash of Northwest Airlines Flight 255, and he knew he was needed. The passengers left the plane; some transferred to flights bound for Los Angeles International Airport. The would hang their Welcome Friends wreath at the new house, where there would be room for visitors and children they hoped to have soon. [4] Another one of those people is John Polehinke, the co-pilot on Com Air flight 5191, which went down seconds after takeoff in Lexington, Ky., in 2006. But 2,500 miles away, friends and family gathered a few hours later in the fluorescent glow of John Wayne Airport to greet a plane that would never arrive. She even swapped phone numbers with a reporter and said keep in touch when the plane landed in Orange County. It was the first time he had seen her since he rescued her on Middlebelt Road. WebWelcome to Northwest Flight 255 Memorial Home | The Crash | In Loving Memory | Resources | Guestbook | eMail | Search View the Memorial Marker Copyright 2003 Times staff writers Lynn Smith and Alan Jalon in Orange County and Bob Schwartz in Detroit contributed to this article. [19], On August 16, 2012, the 25th anniversary of the crash, another memorial service was held at the crash site. Now, Continental officials were telling passengers there was a problem with one of the planes wings. For instance, he loved to collect teddy bears and figurines, which he kept catalogued in the parish rectory. Wieging served as a chaplain of the Detroit Police Department and the Wayne County Sheriffs Department where he was serving at the time of the plane crash and later became a chaplain at the airport itself. [20] Another was held there on August 16, 2017, the 30th anniversary. She was found several feet from the bodies of her family. Most were traveling to the GM Desert Proving Ground in Mesa, Arizona. The crew also received a brief weather report. He said had things to accomplish.. 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Jean Carroll may produce a quick guilty verdict, Lockdown and 5 arrests follow report of a Highland Park High student with gun: When will this end?, Brandon Johnson wins Chicago mayor election; Paul Vallas concedes, Shes embracing her moment: Like it or not, St. Frances grad, LSU star Angel Reese is a champion again, Its official: California Sierra snowpack ties all-time record, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. 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. WebThe deadliest aviation disaster to have had a sole survivor was Northwest Airlines Flight 255, which crashed in Romulus, Michigan, on 16 August 1987, killing 154 of the 155 people on board the aircraft, as well as two people on the ground. Its kind of hard not to think about it when I look in the mirror, she told Dickens. [1]:6, The flight's first officer was 35-year-old David J. Dodds, from Galena, Illinois. Other than a minor problem taxiing to the arrival gate, the flight from Saginaw to Detroit was uneventful. Fr. Carl A. Scherer, 58, Clarence Center, N.Y. Jay Strausbaugh, 29, Sterling Heights, Mich. Erica Thomsen, 61, Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Phyllis A. Zigler, 32, Gasport, N.Y. ON THE GROUND. "The most important thing that people can take away [from the film] is that survivors are really victims too," Dickens said. Family and friends of the victims and others from across the Metro Detroit area (including local media) attended, and a local priest read each victim's name aloud. In Loving Memory | He was employed for 31 years and was certified to fly several different types of planes. Crocker was interviewed a year ago and, for the first time since the crash, told documentary director Ky Dickens that she thinks about the crash all the time but does not fear flying. A memorial to the victims of Flight 255 was Other pilots described the two as "competent and capable.". All but one of the 153 passengers and crew members were killed. The controller advised that a 3-minute delay was needed to allow the wake turbulence from the previous aircraft that had taken off to dissipate. They call themselves the Flight 255 family. Twenty-five times now, theyve gathered at a There were 148 passengers and six crewmembers killed. Cecelia Crocker, nee Cichan, was the only survivor of Northwest Flight 255, which crashed after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Aug. 16, 1987. Following are names of 155 of at least 156 victims in the crash of a Northwest Airlines jet Sunday at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, including six crew members, 147 passengers and two people killed on the ground. He's been with WDIV since 2013. [1]:1 The crew read out the before-start checklist, and started the engines at 20:33:04. 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. Wieging became pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in River Rouge, where he remained for the next four decades until the parish merged with St. Francis Xavier in Ecorse to form St. Andre Bessette Parish in 2012. A Continental spokesman said he was very eager to get back to Orange County that night. Here is a look back at this Southeast Michigan tragedy. Its hard to go back and work knowing some of what I would have worked for isnt there.. "It's kind of hard not to think about it when I look in the mirror. Already on the plane were the McKellar brothers who had missed Flight 255 the night before because of their car trouble. Do you want me to come out there? David asked. Those from Orange County on the flight generally mirrored the overall passenger list. He said, Im here for you. And he was. This page was last edited on 25 March 2023, at 07:26. Highlighted Carl A. Scherer, 58, Clarence Center, N.Y. Jay Strausbaugh, 29, Sterling Heights, Mich. Erica Thomsen, 61, Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Phyllis A. Zigler, 32, Gasport, N.Y. ON THE GROUND. ((Sound of secondary stall recognition aural warning starts)). And there was a Laguna Niguel businessman, ending a long weekend of partying with his sister in Detroit, heading back to work. Amazingly, roughly 95 percent of people involved in plane crashes live to tell about it, according to National Transportation Safety Board statistics on accidents studied from 1983 to 2000. When he found human remains, he blessed every one of them.. Grandma, you act like youll never see me again! Joanne said. 
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