Alarming Silence | Northwest Airlines Flight 255

[@Pat2296]

It's incredible that two pilots with nearly 40 years experience between them could make so many mistakes. So sad.

[@GiordanDiodato]

that's what happens when you're pressured to get people out asap since they make money every time they're in the air. If you want another reason why putting dollars ahead of safety is bad, look up Nationair (or Nigeria) Flight 2120.

[@xocoworld6331]

I feel like they could've been drunk

[@EphemeralProductions]

It's clear something was wrong with both their brains that day. They should NOT have been attempting to fly. 😕

[@GiordanDiodato]

@dave4248 if you watched the video, you'd know why the warning was disengaged.

[@GiordanDiodato]

@@EphemeralProductions you've obviously never had a stressful job

[@sarahbiiz]

Allec, thank you. I struggle from chronic depression and anxiety, and the only thing that has brought me joy as of late are your beautifully executed and informational videos. I applaud the straightforward approach you choose. I don’t know why this particular subject is so interesting to me, but I am even considering changing my major to aeronautics. Just know you changed my life for the better. Cheers

[@williamfitzpatrick8073]

🍻

[@noelbgood8845]

🤎🤎

[@Seltkirk-ABC]

You sound like a robot when you're depressed that's for sure

[@neohabilis7412]

Same here. Anxiety and depression. And many late nights with your excellent videos. Thank you

[@cameronlewis1218]

I also find Allec’s videos to be calming. You’d think it would be the opposite…

[@joekalik5212]

I worked on flt 255, I was a fleet service employee and saw the crew sitting in first class, exchanged hellos with one of the attendants. I believe the ship number was 9307, the fuselage was a mix of republic and northwest colors. I still remember walking up to it to work the flight. A fellow employee and myself were half way thru our routine when we were told to get off for boarding. I will always remember that day.

[@lisalentile177]

Im sorry you saw something so horrible

[@hellosunshine1090]

There but for the Grace of God, right, Joe ?!

[@Jen-X333]

Wow, crazy. Did not being able to finish your routine have anything to do with the crash, in your opinion?

[@hellosunshine1090]

@@Jen-X333 Joe may not still be reading. To address your question no connection with the two. At 5:09 they reveal pilots "failed to extend slats (forward wing edge) and retract flaps" so plane could not gain enough lift to remain airborne. Tragic indeed !

[@Jen-X333]

@@hellosunshine1090 thanks👍🏻

[@roaringchicken92]

It had not started to rain yet. A severe thunderstorm was closing in on the field and the scheduled takeoff runway was changed to allow for avoidance of the storm. ATC instructed 255 to roll right upon takeoff, and First Officer noted (captured on the CVR) that "we're definitely not going left" on takeoff, as that was the direction the blackened clouds of the storm were approaching from. It was just as likely that the pilots were rushing to beat the storm (being 45 minutes late already) as it was the confusion over the runway change that led to the improper takeoff configuration. Also, the wing actually just clipped the rental car building and the plane crashed into an embankment near an Interstate-94 underpass. The lone survivor recently agreed to be interviewed after she had gotten married; she said she (obviously) doesn't remember the crash but has a tattoo of the plane on her wrist to remind her of the incident -- and her family. Great video again!

[@Antoine7881]

It's usually a chain of events that leads to an accident. Not just one thing. I work on the powerlines for a utility company. Whenever there is a electrocution or someone has a flash (powerlines short out on a ground or with each other which can result in 2nd or 3rd degree burns if you're close to it) within the company or another utility there's almost always a chain of events and/or missed signs that leads up to it. You gotta be vigilant and learn from other people's mistakes.

[@ChrisShafi]

In this ssituation...............The pilots were rushing which is never a good thing they were 45mins behind schedule.it was raining..they got lost on finding runway 3C...and they orgot to configure the plane to take off and they killed themselbes by mistake

[@552mustang]

General Relativity One of the chain of events here was that these cowboy pilots were regularly pulling the p40 circuit breaker behind their seat because they thought the warnings were annoying. Which proved the ultimate irony because when they taxid for takeoff with no flaps, it was trying to warn them but the circuit to that was pulled so no alarm

[@flybyairplane3528]

General Relativity I did a 10 hour OSHA course at my union school, and there were many electrocution cases, one of which was a man in a bucket truck working for PSE&G in NJ, well he LOST BOTH arms, due to complacency , he still works for the utility, but after proving to the STATE, he was capable of driving with those 2 hooks, so now he drives one of their vans, making inspections, NO MORE HI VOLTAGE WORK EVER.

[@GiordanDiodato]

and sadly we didn't learn 21 years later with Spanair 5022 Exact same aircraft, exact same reason for crashing, exact number of people dead (not including the 2 on the ground who died in 255's crash). Only difference is that 14 survived the Spanair disaster and only one survived 255.

[@joneslani]

also abort at the first indication and start step 1 from the beginning even if it means you're 2 hours late-but arrive

[@Kevin_747]

The wreckage of this airplane was stored in a hanger at Willow Run airport for many years due to legal ramifications involving the survivor. Very sad accident, like all of them.

[@ericb.449]

Hangar One or as we called it, the Pentastar hangar. Could see inside the crate from the 2nd floor.

[@macman975]

What legal ramifications involving the survivor?.

[@billolsen4360]

I suppose that little girl who survived lost both parents

[@flightgearHD]

Bill Olsen don’t know how old the survivor was, but the traumatic experience is probably uncomprehendable

[@donnamariedavidson5065]

@@flightgearHD the survivor....she was only four yrs. old.

[@Sarah.Riedel]

This is honestly one of the most egregious incidents of pilot error that I know of. My dad consulted on this case back in the day.

[@kali7906]

Can you tell me more?

[@MrTruckerf]

@@kali7906 Guess not.

[@100Aces]

@@kali7906 what would you like to know?

[@kali7906]

Dave LaBute I don’t even know. I spoke with a first responder who was on call from the fire department. I met him on a page for family members of the victims. It’s weird knowing that my parents last moments in life were on that plane right before it crashed. I guess wanting to know any little details is just me grasping at straws.

[@bobtaylor170]

@@kali7906 , I am so sorry.

[@pali1H]

Thanks for sharing this. A school friend of mines father was on this flight. Jay Strausbaugh. I remember being super sad in elementary school when we found out her dad was on that flight.

[@kali7906]

Robert Tinsey what school did you go to? My parents and a girl at my school’s dad also perished in the flight.

[@scoobycarr5558]

@@kali7906 May our Lord Jesus bless your folks in His Father's heavenly kingdom. Also Mr. Jay as well. Kind regards from near Chicago. 🤗

[@maggaveli6764]

@@user-whomst can't you atheists stfu for one second out of respect.

[@hamzahfawaz5135]

My uncle was actually a worker at the airport when this crash occurred and he always tells me stories of this crash. The way he describes it is absolutely horrifying and I can tell he is sort of traumatized from the experience. In case you're wondering, he was one of the people who had to go pick up the remains of the people and the remains of the plane and that's why he is so traumatized from this.

[@scoobycarr5558]

I believe your uncle was very brave. May God bless your uncle. Kind regards! 🤗❤

[@robertslydell6990]

I believe it. Hope he's doing OK.

[@Eric-kn4yn]

More victims than dead from a/c very sad

[@cinkidnv4172]

I remember this specifically because of the lone survivor and because my dad and his wife knew a couple who were on that flight.

[@markbrown4039]

Thank you so much for posting this. I remember it as if it were yesterday. My mother woke me up to say there was a plane crash at Metro.

[@falloutfan6649]

Little known fact: the pilots weren’t really distracted that much from the plane being late or not being able to find the runway. The NTSB’s report to the public doesn’t tell the whole story. The biggest distraction was actually caused by the pilots arguing over the merger between Northwest Airlines and Republic Airlines. I don’t know exactly what started the argument but my grandfather, who was an aircraft mechanic for Northwest at the time told me that he was able to listen to the Cockpit Voice Recorder and hear the argument. This distracted them from the checklist

[@jamesage24]

They should make a mandatory rule of no idle chit-chat during the take off and landing.

[@perryegolson833]

@@jamesage24 They have that rule. They actually had it back then I believe. It's called the sterile cockpit rule. During takeoff and landings you can only talk about matters pertaining to the flight.

[@kali7906]

What??! 😧

[@GiordanDiodato]

yes they were. it was over an hour late because they had to divert due to thunderstorms.

[@CEB1896]

And 156 people in total was killed because of this.

[@Auta5tic]

My friends dad almost went on this flight but he didn’t! He’s very lucky

[@holiday-td6hx]

My DH and I camping at a campground about an hour away from Detriot Metro Airport and we were getting ready to take our 4 kids (ages 12, 9,7 & 1 yrs old)to Detriot Metro Airport that day. Back then you could get into the terminals etc. and the kids loved the airport. You could also go outside and actually take photos of the airplanes too. When I was braiding my DD's hair, suddenly a chill ran through me and someone whispered: "Don't go to the airport." There was no one around my daughter and I...and she didn't hear that suggestion. My DH noticed the abrupt change in my mood and actions. I finished my daughter's hair and then when she left to get coloring books for her brothers and herself to take in the SUV I told my DH "We can't go to Metro Airport. I feel that something isn't right." I did tell my DH what I heard, and because I have had these feelings (this didn't happen very much where I would cancel some plans because of these type of feelings etc.) So, we decided to go in the other direction, to Binder Park Zoo for the day. The kids had a wonderful time and when we got back to our campsite my DH turned on the radio while he & I were getting a campfire so we could roast polish sausages and make S'mores. When we heard about the crash of Northwest Airlines flight 255.....of course we were horrified. Had we went to the airport that day there is no doubt in my mind that we could have possibly been one of the casualties on the freeway when the plane crashed. My DH never questioned my ability to be warned about certain things. I don't call myself a psychic etc. but there have been times that had I NOT listened to my "inner voice" or whatever it is, things could have possibly happened to our family, etc. I have had times where I suddenly refused to enter a branch of the bank we used...and within 1-2 hours after I changed my mind about the branch to use, the branch I planned on using that day was robbed. There have been a few other instances.....but the crash of Flight 255 was the biggest disaster we avoided due to my "inner voice" (as my kids call it)

[@kali7906]

holiday 2406 wow.. that’s an amazing story. I lost my parents in that crash. We should always listen to our intuition!

[@infotechsailor]

@@kali7906 dang what were their names? SAD. RIP

[@kali7906]

Josh Bascii Kail and Linda Grigg

[@bettytorres6285]

@@kali7906 sorry for the loss

[@muffs55mercury61]

The same thing happened a year later in Dallas when the pilots of Delta flight 1140 failed to set the flaps and slats and a crash happened. The death toll was lower but it was still as preventable as the flight 255 crash.

[@markcopeland4448]

Okay, I live 5 miles from the Detroit airport. There was no thunderstorm that night and it was a light rain. I was outside walking home from the store and I heard a lot of distant sirens and thought there was a car crash nearby - but the sirens kept coming and coming. Local TV news broke into programming about 20 minutes after that. I flew out to California two days after that crash from the same airport.

[@GiordanDiodato]

there were thunderstorms in the direction they were supposed to go.

[@dondavis7687]

Thank you for adding the element of a thunderstorm! I lived 2 Miles from the crash site! When the crash happened I merely thought it was thunder! Until about 5 minutes later when emergency vehicles were racing past our house and local TV broke the story! It was a Sunday night!

[@GiordanDiodato]

@ er how?

[@davidca96]

Hey Don! You live by that bridge eh! That must have been a sad sight! Did I mention !!!!? Just joking about your use of ! after every sentence. I have driven under that bridge right where it crashed so many times, I live up by Flint.

[@peteschneider7369]

@ here's an idea.... don't frequent his channel! Just listen to "Baby Shark" until your nuts descend...

[@carolcase2967]

Thanks for doing this one. I was 'there' when it happened and always took Northwest from DTW to PHX each spring. It was horrifying

[@tate1282]

FLAPS....it's always flaps. dude how the hell...

[@JoeyFlyBoy]

Tate Wetzel ikr

[@SenorCrazylegs]

Very easy to do if you're rushing. I've mis-set the flaps once (Airbus). Other pilot picked it up. If he hadn't the takeoff config warning would have picked up it up, and if that failed the checklist would have picked it up, and if that still failed it would have produced a master caution on takeoff roll. Lots of systems to help you these days. All these systems are there because people have died. I always think about just how many flights this captain did before then where there was no problem at all, then just on that particular day he makes one mistake...

[@LAD6504]

Tate Wetzel ikr

[@billcallahan9303]

Tate Wetzel .....Tate, I often wonder that too. With all the redundency & top notch technology they have now, they still manage to crash 'em. Too dependent maybe? Complacent? Stupid? Lazy?

[@SenorCrazylegs]

Bill Callahan Well, crash them in what ways? Wrong flaps? Not much anymore I'd wager. Today it'll be more to do with outside stuff. Dodgy cargo/fuel/maintenance. If mistakes are made, 99% of the time it's because guys are overworked, running late, lots of ongoing problems at once etc. They just don't tend to kill you like they used to.

[@CruceEntertainment]

I was a pre-teen at the time, living in the Detroit area. When this happened, I came to realize that life can be very cruel.

[@Seltkirk-ABC]

Uh huh.

[@Amethyst-1013]

This is literally 30 minutes from where I live. Thank you!

[@holiday-td6hx]

This was during a time where you could go pretty much where you wanted to in an airport. My kids were young back then and for something to do, we planned on going to the Airport (Detriot Metro) and do some other things (the Detriot Zoo, etc) as well. When we went to dinner after being at the Zoo for a few hours my DH suggested we stop at the airport and let the kids see the big planes, etc. When I was in the bathroom at the restaurant with my 9 yr old daughter, I got the STRANGEST feeling that we shouldn't go to Metro Aiport. When my DH & the boys, my daughter & I met outside the restaurant's restrooms, I pulled my DH aside and told him that I had the weirdest feeling and we should just skip the Airport thing, and go home. My DH knew from past experiences with me that if I felt that way, we BOTH needed to listen.....When we got home, around 9:30 pm the news came on and had reported that Northwest Airlines, Flight 255 had crashed. Had we went with the plans we made, we could have been caught up in this mess, could have possibly been injured or killed on the highway... So, my advice is to listen to your intuitions....

[@davidca96]

I live up by Flint, and have driven under that bridge dozens of times going to the airport its weird to realize a plane had crashed right there and imagining what that must have been like.

[@holiday-td6hx]

My DH had a friend that lived very close to the airport. He and his wife decided to move an hour WEST of the airport as the airport expanded and got closer and closer to the subdivisions near the airport.

[@jeremypearson6852]

I believe the child that survived has grown up and has a family of her own. She rarely wants to be interviewed about the accident and rightly so, its bad enough she lost her family at such a young age. I wish her all the best in life.

[@Seltkirk-ABC]

she rarely wants to be interviewed because she doesn't even remember what happened.

[@TheHaratashi]

@@Seltkirk-ABC Oh - she remembers alright.

[@StephenLuke]

RIP To the 154 passengers and crew of Northwest Airlines Flight 255 and the two people on the ground

[@curtc2194]

I was visiting my parents who lived close to Metro Airport. We drove to a local supermarket to get provisions and saw all the emergency vehicles heading east on I-94 toward the airport. When we got home my dad informed us that a plane had gone down at Metro...sad evening for sure. I remember a pro basketball player was on that flight...his name escapes me but I believe he played for the Phoenix Suns.

[@theresewilliamson9057]

Nick Vanos.

[@InteriorDesignStudent]

RIP to all souls on board who passed. I've driven past the crash site, and it feels eerie.

Yes, I always think of it when travelling through there, even though the freeway bridges and ramps have been rebuilt and reconfigured since then.

[@100Aces]

@ did you notice? If you're driving north on Middlebelt look at the railroad trestle where the steel meets the embankment....the burn marks are STILL THERE!

[@Seltkirk-ABC]

of course, because 150 people were incinerated into thin air

[@ScaringCrab]

ayyy i was about to watch the episode "Alarming Silence" then your video just popped up :D

[@kcindc5539]

On the CVR transcript (and you can just barely hear in this audio), just prior to impact the Captain realizes the situation and says two things: To his First Officer he says “Ah, F***!” Then he immediately gets on the PA system and says “I am so sorry. We are going to crash. BRACE!” Imagine those being the last words you’d hear. This was such a preventable crash. Sloppy flying and a lack of discipline doomed those 154 souls and orphaned the 155th.

[@GiordanDiodato]

no it wasn't just that

[@jhutch1470]

I was on that plane the day before. A girlfriend thought I was dead for 2 weeks. She jumped into my arms like I had come back to life. I will never forget that.

[@macman975]

So you were so close to your girlfriend that you flew on that plane and when you arrived at your destination you didn't speak to her then. In fact 2 weeks went by and you didn't once talk to your girlfriend or anyone that she knew. I smell bullshit big time 🤣😂🤣

[@aerlial360]

@LUCKYDUCKY 62 I was actually in the plane with his girlfriend. He called her "a" girlfriend as if he had a harem.

[@ronalddavis]

@EFEZZE6280 i was the plane

[@agoo7581]

So you just stopped talking to her for two weeks for the lulz?

[@nancydavis4618]

TYVM for these mr. Ibay

[@jimwatson842]

I believe I know what happened. While the crew were progressing through the taxi checklist they were distracted by the latest ATIS weather information broadcast.They were very close to "flaps", but never set them. In the interim, they got lost on their way to the 3C runway from which they would depart. They had also engaged in quite a bit of idle conversation. The ground frequency was also busy. All this seems to add up to a distracted cockpit crew. The CAWS alarm, which would've warned them the airplane was not properly configured, did not sound when they pushed the throttles up to begin the take-off. The investigators were not able to determine if the CAWS circuit breaker had been pulled, which would've rendered it inoperable. I am of the opinion some crew member didn't like the annoying sound it made, so it was pulled and, if that be so, it doomed 156 people. But this is just my personal belief. According to the transcript, Captain Maus and David Dodds, the young FO, were having trouble with the throttles as the takeoff started, which should have alerted them, but unfortunately did not. There were thunderstorms in the DTW area at the time, but were not a factor in the 255 disaster. I am not a pilot, but I was a fueler for a number of years and have studied a lot of aircraft accident reports. I keep repeatedly going back to this one, an MD-82 stretched DC-9 still mostly in its Republic Airlines scheme of overall white with a nice, thin turquoise and black stripe, making it look long and beautiful. The penchant of humans to goof at the most inopportune time won out here. Northwest had the audacity to try and make McDonnell-Douglas share expenses in this one, but the case was rightfully thrown out on its ear. I also believe this tragic event was the beginning of the end for one of America's notable air carriers, similar to the Air Florida 90 tragedy five years earlier that turned out to be that airline's swan song.

[@552mustang]

Jim Watson I can tell you for a fact that the p40 circuit was pulled. I mean first off you can clearly hear in the CVR that it says STALL and not STALL-ALL as it would if the breaker wasnt pulled. Also a bunch of pilots at the time admitted they did it all the time.

[@100Aces]

@@552mustang also republic colors were white, turquoise, and dark blue! They just painted over where it said Republic with red letters that said NORTHWEST

[@dennismichael5891]

I think all of your posts are fantastic..............I try and watch them all but I find that at the end....I get depressed especially with the subjects that I lived through at the time. Not being actually there but remembering the stories as they happened in my lifetime. GREAT VIDS.....LOVE THEM ALL

[@justintaylorschreiber2964]

Two young girls that were sisters that lived on the same street as my mom while she was growing up in Phoenix unfortunately passed away in this crash.. my mom remembers them well and remembers how badly this plane crash took a toll on the Phoenix area. 110 people of the 155 people on the plane were from the Valley, so it’s very sad to think how one disaster took so many lives of a metro area’s residents even if it didn’t happen anywhere near that spot.

[@davidfowler7040]

I was a mechanic for Northwest at this time. I don't recall that any of our MD-80 aircraft had a glass cockpit. The first plane we had with a glass cockpit was the 757.

[@marksacher3866]

So tragic. Rising NBA star Nick Vanos was also on that flight.

[@Gabby9292K1]

Mark Sacher I was about to mention that, Mark.....

[@robertslydell6990]

I'm from Phoenix and while I wouldn't go so far as to say Vanos was a rising star at the time of his death (he was only 24 I think), he showed a lot of potential and would likely have had a solid career.

[@marksacher3866]

@@robertslydell6990 I saw him play at Santa Clara University. He was going to have a fine NBA career.

[@blessOTMA]

I remember this. The little girl and her parents were going home after visiting the grandparents. The girl was discovered alive under her mother's body. The grandparents knew it was her right off because it was reported the little girl had had purple nail polish . Which was applied at the end of the visit

[@irasemamendez95]

It's hard to understand, how some pilots forget to set up the flats and slat with all the experience they have, another thing is the pressure they have with the time, shouldn't be that way, there are things in life that we can not control, it's better to lose one minute then to loose the life in one minute

[@rayzedark1353]

The little girl though. I wonder how this affected her life

[@552mustang]

RaYze dark She seems perfectly normal. And shes pretty hot now!

ABC and local news did a story on her (she was interviewed for the first time) a couple of years ago. She was brought up by an Aunt and Uncle who did a fine job of shielding her from the media, she's married and seems to be an intelligent, down-to-earth lady. She remembers nothing about the crash.

[@Cthight]

@I m glad she cant remember if she were older she would be traumatized about this. Such disasters you will never forget.

[@Blougon]

She's very lucky to survive this accident

[@mangrove]

She said that the enormity of what happened and her being a lone survivor didn't fully hit her until she was in jr. high. She contacted the people who found her, and keeps in touch with them on Facebook. She even invited the rescue worker who found her to her wedding.

[@alphafoxtrot787]

So sad! i saw an interview with the sole survivor of this crash, search it up! it is her i think

[@Elle-ho3yg]

That’s it. Her story is so moving.

[@aaronmichael7116]

Yes, it's in a documentary. Aired a year or two on a local Detroit station. The sole survivor is now a grown woman. She has a tattoo of a black airplane on her wrist. She was found by rescue workers still buckled in her seat, her suspected mother laying over her. I'm sure she had to endure plenty of medical attention, as well as psychological. Can you blame her ? Survivor guilt as well. I never understood that guilt. I guess you have to go through it to understand it. Just like the counselor I was sent to by the Fire Chief when we had a horrific call a few years back. I was sent for a mandatory 3-sessions, however, after the first session, I knew the counselor wasn't up for the task. I called my chief, and ended that process immediately !! Not the counselor's fault, at all !!

[@larrysproul9424]

I had just arrived home with a new tv. I got it out of the cardboard box and attached the rabbit ears. It was about 9 pm and I turned on the tv. First coverage was of a crash near DTW. You could see the fire and smoke . I called my grandfather who lived about 3 miles from the airport. He said all he could hear was sirens and looking to t he west could see the thick smoke. He had been outdoors and Did not know a jet was down. He started praying over the phone.

[@billolsen4360]

@@aaronmichael7116 Plenty of survivor guilt on battlefields too. They say at first you're happy the enemy didn't just shoot your brains out, then you're burdened with guilt because you thought that way about a comrade in arms.

[@100Aces]

@@aaronmichael7116 Not at all! That story about a woman shielded the little girl is an urban legend....and she said she has no memory of the accident!

[@cindyweir9645]

I always remember this because I lived 20 miles away and my first grandchild was born on that very day.

[@TheApocalypseNine]

Another success from the Allec crew- WHOA! THUNDER! (Also, according to the Mayday episode, the warnings would annoy the crap out of the cockpit crew, if I remember correctly?)

[@GiordanDiodato]

In a sense they did annoy the crew, but only because it had false alarms.

[@shariys1]

I lived near Detroit my entire life. I clearly remember this and always will.

[@100Aces]

You think you remember it? I lived at Middlebelt and Pennsylvania! It still bothers me to this day!

[@Albendova666]

I remember that MANY first responders were traumatized from the gore and number of body parts in this crash...split torsos, arms, heads, legs, literally miles of charred intestines....

[@100Aces]

@Xi Jinping says Sinis irrumabo ABSOLUTELY TRUE....google dr.robert ankony he was an ex-wayne county sheriff! I knew the man! But he used to write a blog.. before he sadly ended his own life, but he wrote on on this accident! DR.Robert Ankony/flight255 or something like that you'll find it....its a little graphic...and I have seen pictures of the next morning that children should definitely NOT SEE! Very horrible.

That was an over-share.

[@100Aces]

@ It may have been....but I lived 4 miles south ON Middlebelt road....and I don't think people really realize the severity of a 165 foot airplane with 155 passengers and crew crashing at 200 Miles per hour!

[@cloroxbleach2097]

Allec, your content is amazing!

And wrong............

[@thomstant]

I’ve never even used a flight simulator and even I know you gotta remember flaps. It’s the main thing I look at during taking if I’m sitting behind the wings.

[@skyservenews7605]

Lost a beautiful friend, class mate, co-worker and a Mom to be. Susan worked as a flight attendant on 255 expecting to end in Minneapolis that night. She was hoping to go on maternity leave the next day. Sussan's husband found her company ID when he walked the crash scene the next day after the accident. I heard many pilots, and crews with their theories. One firsthand story from the f/o that was holding her MD80 behind 255. She swears that the slats and flaps were down. It's amazing just how wrong credible witnesses can be. The first impact critically damaged the MD80's port wing; The wing impacted several light polls at the end of the runway. That caused fuel to gush out of the fuel tank. The jet struck the top corner of the Herts car rental office at the end of the runway in DTW. The wing had a steaming plume of smoke and fire trailing the left side of the aircraft. The wing stalled and the Super 80 rolled to the left under an overpass.

[@newenglandstacker]

Grew up in Jackson, MI. I remember when this happened. So tragic.

[@hamlettelmah441]

Great job once again, I found Cecelia Cichan's story she told in 2015 and can't wait to watch it after this video.

[@jaromir100vlog9]

I was waiting for that video so long

[@nawwafs.a1099]

Me too...

[@dawnehelene59]

Allec-Your depiction of #255 is insufficiently accurate. My sister Gayle, a flight attendant with NW was deadheading that evening, hitching a ride on one of two scheduled NW flights heading to L.A. that were leaving within minutes of each other on that hot, humid evening. The temperature was typical for August in Michigan, sticky and slightly hazy. There was no rain, no lightning, nothing of the sort.....just a warm night with plenty of daylight, even at 8:45pm. Either Maus, his co-pilot or an earlier crew had sealed the planes fate by yanking out wires that sound alarms warning pilots if the flaps are not properly set. This mystery has never been solved, but statements from 2 earlier crews stated that the alarms were going "on and off" with no rhyme or reason for several days prior. This was this particular's crews last flight of the night after a long and exhausting day-not an excuse but certainly a contributing factor to the crash. Maus, his co-pilot and at least two flight attendants can be heard laughing and joking as the plane was pulling out from the gate, adding to their distraction. Once they were orientated and ready for takeoff, no mention of the flaps is heard. The plane accelerated, rotated, rose 57 feet, barrelled rolled and snapped a Avis-Rent-A-Car sign before imploding into a massive fireball on I-94. Within minutes, "Survival Flight," one of two emergency copters operated by the University of Michigan Hospital system took off. I gazed at it from my high-rise apartment across the Huron River in Ann Arbor, thinking little of it at the time.......until the second chopper took off some 60 seconds later. At that moment my television went 'live' to the scene, and for the next 5.5 hours my family and I assumed my sister was dead. We were beyond devastated and in those days before cell phones and computers, were unable to establish her whereabouts. The awful truth became clearer when both choppers returned within 35 minutes, completely devoid of survivors. Astonishingly-Gayle survived, having chosen the earlier flight instead of #255. But she lost many friends, including her newly married best friend (they'd gone through 'stew training' together) who also happened to be pregnant with her first child. The fact that Cecilia Sheehan survived is beyond ones wildest imagination as that little girl (now in her thirties) was badly broken and burned. (Experts think her mother saved her life by covering her little body with her own) But the mystery of the 'pulled wires' remains. Were Maus or his co-pilot responsible, or had a different crew signed their death warrant? And why weren't the flap settings called out during the pre-flight checklist? No one seems to know-and as the NTSB knows so well, dead men cannot defend themselves.

[@GiordanDiodato]

the pilots were being redirected to a newer, shorter runway due to thunderstorms in the area. They were extremely late by the time they had to make the change, and the ATC disrupting their checklist didn't help much.

[@patn8999]

It never hit an Avis sign. It hit a light post in the Avis parking lot, then as it rolled to the left the tip of the left wing caught the Avis building, it then rolled further crashing on it's roof on Middlebelt Road (not I-94) between a railroad overpass and the I-94 overpass.

[@robertslydell6990]

I think the overriding issue causing the many mistakes was that the pilots were in a hurry to get the Phoenix and then on to Orange County to beat the noise abatement curfew there.

[@ginocolaianni46]

Impressively accurate sound of the loud JT-8D engines. They have a very distinctive "crackle" to them.

[@romaking6713]

I lived in Lake Orion at the time. Absolutely devastating.

[@FutureNostaliga]

Man... imagine not only surviving a plane crash as a kid, but you were the sole survivor.

[@MidgetPutToTheTest]

these videos are so addicting o have most like almost watched them all

[@jamesmartin7282]

I was hot tubbing at my best friend's house in nearby Westland when this crash occurred. We'll never forget the sound of the crash and the sirens. PS it was not raining at the time.

[@richardconty5744]

if u dont mind me asking, what did the crash sound like? and did u feel a vibration afterwards from the crash?

[@localbod]

Sad for all those families who lost loved ones. What's the point of having checklists if they're not used?

[@lloydadkins2191]

I was there in the airport when this happened. I heard a rumor of a plane crash and went to look and could see the smoke out past the runway. I also heard one guy missed the fight while reading a book "Buckskin Brigades".

[@StephenPowers1]

Sometimes such simple errors..Jeez

[@MrBwincali420]

its always a simple error

[@wallacegrommet9343]

The most critical of errors on takeoff: incorrect flight control settings! Oblivious!

[@100Aces]

It was a conglomeration of lots of simple errors!

[@_Andrew2002]

Another soul survivor crash, only 19 of them in the world I believe. There is a video about the girl who survived and only just realised it was this flight now. She doe not remember the crash but does remember survivors guilt 3 years later. Do suggest looking at that

[@_Andrew2002]

Lone Survivor of 1987 Plane Crash Breaks Silence by ABC

[@552mustang]

Andrew Cecilia Cichan. Shes really cute now!

[@heidiholiday1879]

"Survivors guilt" is PC BS---no one should feel "guilty" for surviving anything.

[@gamma_dablam]

heidi Holiday you would never understand unless you went through It yourself

[@Xpwnxage]

@@heidiholiday1879 You're an overly political moron. You're just as incompetent if not more so than the "PC police". Because it doesn't have anything to do with "should" feeling guilty. It has to do with the brain and psychological effects that are uncontrollable. People can't just think through certain mental conditions. It has nothing to do with fortitude, it has to do with how our animal brains interpret the stress/trauma and how that trauma can permanently alter it. In the future think about something for 5 fucking seconds before you project your simpleton thoughts onto the rest of us. Better yet go to a veteran's clinic and tell the victims of mental illness' that they don't have PTSD or Survivors Guilt because they "shouldn't".

[@pa600a]

So many years later...have they taught the recovery procedure to their Pilot group? My only wish is that they demo the recovery maneuver to the Pilot group. I have flown the scenario in the simulator but it still is not included in the training syllabus at my airline. Extend the slats/flaps if any wing roll-off occurs on takeoff.

[@AlexDahlseid2002]

One four year old girl by the name of Cecelia Cichan was sole survivor

[@Jarvis2many]

John Carter was killed on this flight. He left behind a beautiful flourishing family. Four beautiful daughters and one son. They were all under 18 years of age. His wife Elaine raises the family all by herself. She’s a great lady and paid her dues. She did a hell of a great job against all odds.❤️

[@davidca96]

Ive driven right on that road a bunch of times, sometimes remembering a plane once was all over it. Horrible, also so amazing that a 4yr old lived through it, one single life saved.

[@bobv8219]

In an attempt to get off the ground on the short runway there was not enough forward speed so pulling back on the yoke put them in nearly stall mode loosing any potential lift. Thanks for sharing your videos.

[@vanessaruiz4705]

wow imagine being that one survivor. What the hell.

[@woofwgn]

I remember reading that the collision with the light pole sheared 18 feet off the wing. The investigators said they likely would have made it if that hadn't happened.

[@Eisenbison]

They also would have realized the problem in time if they hadn't purposefully disabled the warning system.

[@dannyedmonds227]

i was a few miles away from the airport when it crashed. the wind was so bad it was sand blasting me, it was a factor for sure. 1 st I heard of the crash was on my police scanner, they were arresting someone for stealing a passengers golf clubs from the crash site.

[@dontlookatender9282]

As a Michigander, I thank you for this video, as I have been wanting it for a while, but the plane also hit an interstate and slid along that as well

[@nenblom]

I can’t imagine what young girl who was the sole survivor went through afterwards. RIP to all who perished.

[@MrTruckerf]

Not bad; too young to remember anything. Probably raised by relatives who never mentioned it.

[@indianapatsfan]

Allec, you ought to do a video on Pinnacle Flight 3401. It's not a well-known crash but it's an interesting story because the actions of the pilots that night set the gold standard for poor airmanship and unprossionalism.

[@rrknl5187]

Speaking as a pilot who has flown in and out of quite a few airports, in my opinion, the design of the taxiways played a fairly large part here. Most airports are pretty easy to taxi on, even at night but some are nearly impossible. By the time you actually get to the runway, you're so frazzled you can't think straight. And now you're about to perform the most critical phase of the flight.......... I honestly don't know what some of these idiots who design airports are thinking but they REALLY need to simplify the designs.

[@kimberlystewartworkinglate7058]

It really wasn't night yet in Detroit. Sunset is usually around the time of the crash in mid-August. Usually we don't get as dark as depicted in the video until after 9pm or if there is a layer of unbroken clouds, but it was actually a clear day with spotty thunderstorms from the heat. I remember it still being light and bright out when I went to my folks that a plane had crashed at the airport.

[@kali7906]

Kimberly Stewart Working Late are you sure?

[@GiordanDiodato]

Your comment reminds of Comair 5191. Apparently, one of the reasons why it happened is because the original layout of the airport was extremely confusing. Plus, it was really early in the morning, like 5:30 or something, so he may have also been tired. Another factor was one of the taxiways was closed, probably confusing them even more. Sadly a lot of people just called the only survivor and the pilot of the plane incompetent, though maybe it's because of his kneejerk reaction to criticism.

[@jaysonwastell2602]

Airport design... like putting a 200 gazillion foot pole at the end of the runway, or a car rental facility, or in some cases a gas station. Brilliant.

[@nithishpraveen1861]

Awesome video mate

[@scottpatrick8645]

This accident always amazes me. Distractions or not, it's like a professional skydiver forgetting to strap on his parachute before jumping.

[@kentstallard6512]

Great job as usual, Allec. I've been waiting for this one ever since subscribing to you. I lived not far from Detroit Metro Airport back then, and recall driving past it on I-94 just a couple of days after the crash. Middlebelt Rd. looked as if someone had taken a giant charcoal pencil and filled it all in.

[@NewtonWashinton]

Very sad, this plane was in our hanger after the crash for the investigation. Cecelia Cichan 4 years old the only survivor it was said at the time that her mother had protected her but sadly that was not the case, Cecelia was found alone.

[@zl1David]

Cecelia Crocker, now 37, the lone survivor.

[@mimosagreen8006]

Been watching your videos and all of them were done with ingenuity. I hope you can do the cebu pacific flight 387. I have been so curious about it and I think doing it is just a piece of cake for you. Thank you and God bless..

[@davidbuschhorn6539]

There's no need to redesign a checklist if the pilots don't DO the checklist. I LOVE checklists but I hate giving them to bad employees. They'll check everything off, THEN start doing the list. I get there in the morning and five or six things weren't done, but the checklist is fully checked off... "Weird that there's six inches of water on the floor, customer's parts are ruined, half our machinery is wet and the water's still turned on, yet.... the check box here says you turned the water off?" "Well I... uh..." "Let me have your keys and turn in your timecard to the secretary after you clock out."

[@GiordanDiodato]

they were already rushed and delayed thanks to thunderstorms and a runway change. I say give them less pressure.

[@davidbuschhorn6539]

@@GiordanDiodato checklists are important. Rush or not, that's what it's there for, to make sure you don't miss anything.

[@fullclipaudio]

I work with high voltage stuff that can easily kill me. I have a checklist that I go through so as to not kill myself. Darwin is the ultimate boss.

[@davidbuschhorn6539]

@@fullclipaudio My checklist saved me from fucking up SO MANY TIMES. I'd get in a conversation or someone would interrupt my checklist. I'd come back and walk to the next thing, look down and realize I'd never completed the LAST incredibly important thing. I might have turned the oven fans off, but not the $11,000 heating elements (melty melty). Or I' d turned the air off, that moved water to the waste area, but not turned the water itself off... all the water tanks would have overflowed... Or close the valve to the waste water evaporation pods but not the water flowing into the waste water hoolding tank.... THAT would overflow and flood a different department. I'd catch those mistakes right way because of the checklist, but my co-workers would destroy a lot of stuff because they didn't do the checklist. I've come in Monday morning to water and acid flowing out the front doors of the shop :-( OSHA and EPA nightmares for the owners.

[@robertslydell6990]

Reminds me of the time I bought a new car, the "pre delivery checklist" is part of my paperwork with probably two dozen things checked off as being A-OK. After a week or so of ownership I tune to AM to listen to a game and it doesn't work. Radio checked off as being A-OK in all respects. So yeah, you're right. As a wise man once said to me, "if you take an idiot and train him, you get a well-trained idiot."

[@davidfowler7040]

I guess the pilots pulled a circuit breaker and partially disabled their warning systems. You could tell this by the single voiced stall warning. Normally there are two voices slightly out of phase and it sounds like STALLALL. Since it only said STALL, that meant that their was a breaker out. I guess that some pilots pulled a breaker to eliminate nuisance warnings. Unfortunately, pulling this breaker disabled the take off warning system. They should have received a FLAPS SLATS warning if the breaker was not pulled.

[@tommy2timez]

Your videos are top notch...ty

[@adeebighani3976]

Alec can you do air Canada 143? It's a crazy story.

Alec can you correct this video and any others you made which are also in error?

[@macman975]

@ What are you on about?.

[@MrBwincali420]

there is a movie called sole survivor and it has 6-9 people who survived commercial plane crashes being the only one to live. worth checking out. I work in the planning department of BNA( Nashville International) and stuff like this is always brought up when we plan for the future.

[@jimmycline4778]

Pilots, I’m a pizza delivery driver, I’ve watched everyone of these videos, I knew before I seen the cause, when the airline couldn’t get lift that the flaps were not extended! Next time I fly I’m telling the pilot not to forget to extend the flaps, do your checklist! I shouldn’t know things that should be ingraved in a airline pilot!

[@jimmycline4778]

I know ,flaps and slats so it will fly!

[@radiocameron]

Drove past the site (Middlebelt Road and I-94) a few days after the crash. The crash site was beyond devastating.

[@bekizx1167]

4:30 how is a pole that high?

[@donnamariedavidson5065]

high enough for the wing to hit it.

[@kcindc5539]

It isn’t a question of how high the pole was. The aircraft hit the pole because it only managed to get a few feet off the ground. It couldn’t climb out of ground effect due to the lack of added lift from the flaps/slats extension. And the left wing was easily able to hit the pole because by that point the stall had caused the aircraft to roll to the left, nose high but left wing low.

[@RMInt-qp8mq]

according to the NTSB report, the plane was only 40 feet off the ground 1250 feet past the end of the runway. They should've had around 350+ feet altitude at that time.

[@eddiestanley135]

Really good drugs!!!🤔

[@jimwatson842]

552mustang: Thanks for the info. I wonder if that was deliberately left out of the report. A “what if”: they only needed another 50 feet vertically to clear the rental lot light poles. Had that happened, perhaps the crew might have realized what was wrong and they could have lowered the nose a few degrees to stay airborne. In spite of all that fuel, cargo and no high lift devices they almost made it. But Maus and Dodds would have been shaking in their boots all the way to Phoenix because of (a) what they had just done and (b) they knew they would probably have to answer for it. Still, I believe the incident is a testimony to what a great series of airplanes the DC-9 was, especially if flown in the proper configuration.

[@bobbypaluga4346]

It is basically impossible to take off in a DC-9-80 without the flaps/slats extended. The wings to weight ratio is so low you can’t gain enough lift on those tiny wings alone. It wasn’t the perimeter fence that was just an obstacle when the aircraft failed to gain sufficient lift. Had there been no fence and light pole the aircraft would have still crashed. The TV coverage in Phoenix was brutal, reporters pushing mike’s into the faces of the family members waiting at Sky Harbor and asking them how did they feel. Stupid, they were crushed

[@bensommerMusic]

I am addicted to these videos

[@taneli7432]

Nice video, Mr Allec. :^)

[@duartesimoes508]

The same day, a friend of mine was killed in a crash with a Cessna 150. I was in the Army then, and someone came to me and asked if I had learned about the plane crash. "Yes, a MD, in the United States, I heard." "No, no, here in Portugal, a light aircraft like those you fly". And that's how I learned...

[@RuthlessHeathen]

Your flight videos are too realistic. I realize this is how it should be, but I suffer with all those lost souls. Good work.

[@googaagoogaa12345678]

such a tragic avoidable and unbelievable accident don't disable safeties and use your damn flaps if you listen close to the CVR you can hear someone say "I'm so sorry were going to crash brace" just awful

[@Jycatgc6282]

Thanks for the subtitles.

[@AvenueBCD]

I remember this crash like yesterday. Lived 45 minutes from the airport and was a senior in high school. So, so sad. I wonder where the little girl who survived is today.

[@Unknown-bq9id]

Because it was a flight to Phoenix, over 110 of the dead were from Arizona--100 from the Phoenix metro area alone. RIP to all those who died in the crash...

[@cargamerunddragonsgamer2022]

Why the fuck does someone disliked it allec joshua is the best man

[@tiffanyperreira8275]

Cuz they are shitty idiots

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

I think some people do thumbs down not because of the video itself, but because of the events, situations, and people portrayed in them. Like, loved the video but hated that the flight deck screwed up and snuffed many lives because of it!

[@pedrogrieblerreche7402]

Unfortunately, aviation wouldn´t be the safest transport in the world if those accidents wouldn´t happen. The safety in the future costs lives in the past in most of the times. It´s sad to think about that, but none life in aivation goes in vain.

[@robertslydell6990]

Nobody checked to make sure the flaps and slats were in position before 8/16/87, that's for sure.

[@cindysavage265]

Pedro Griebler Reche Very true

[@spongycakes249]

1 small error and a alarm not being sounded caused this flight to crashed with only a child who survived and lost her family including here 6 year old brother very tragic,RIP to those onboard the MD-80.The flight was also wearing the Northwest-Republic airlines livery.

[@552mustang]

Spongycakes 24 It wasnt a small error. Those pilots were regularly pulling those circuit breakers on purpose because they found the alarms annoying. It was so common that pilots at the time could reach behind their seat and do it in 2 seconds without looking. That shows you how often they did it

[@novola1972]

Thank you man !!

[@aerlial360]

Just subscribed. Please do the one at Gander Newfoundland. The Arrow Air Flight 1285 DC8 where sadly all those servicemen were killed on takeoff due to miscalculating takeoff weight.

[@Coolbrobro12]

YASSS I WANTED THIS ONE FOR SO LONG

[@OrangeAviationPlanespotting]

Cecelia You will be always remembered

[@kailenholzhauer8239]

I heard they found the little girl who survived in her seat buckled in

[@552mustang]

The king Coder Yes shes alive and quite pretty now. Cecilia Cichan