Hank Winchester: It’s hard to believe it’s been 35 years since Flight 255 crashed on I-94

It’s hard to believe it’s been 35 years since Flight 255 crashed just after leaving Detroit Metro Airport.

[@waltertaffs1737]

My mother pass away on that day I was at the cemetery and remember going home later on that night and hearing about this tragedy

[@maryrobinson4131]

I was 16 when this happened.. It's like it was yesterday.. So glad she has normalcy in her life.. Hard to imagine the reality of all of those people still in their seats alive just minutes before.. The horror before the impact.. Heaven got 156 😇 Angels that day.. The Lord left us but one 😇 Angel here on 🌎 Earth.. Her name is Cecilia Sheehan..

[@kaylanbaby5987]

I remember like it was yesterday. My daddy knew someone from work on that plane. I kept the manifest that came out in the Detroit News for years.

[@m42037]

I remember I was 22, time moves like lightning very short lives we have. This is like a small 9/11 I'll be visiting

[@Utubin]

You got that right,to damn fast. I was 18 and fine as a great wine. Now 55,hard to believe . However always happy to have another day.

[@ryanwatts2880]

Middlebelt Road

[@elove2.038]

I was a little kid & remember all of their individual pictures in the newspaper. I think my mom still have it.

[@edwardsbarbara25]

*has

[@tammysavoie9771]

My husband and 2 kids along with some other family members were there watching the planes land and take off. The weather was extremely windy and they switched runways. Back then you could go to that other runway two different ways. As we pulled onto Goddard to go there we saw the plane explode. We were first on the scene. It was horrific! We were trapped inside the airport for at least 2 hours. I couldn't sleep for a few days. The only way to cope was that little Cecilia Shehann survived!

[@boblackey1]

Was the plane upside down when it exploded? It was in a 90 degrees angle when it hit the rental car roof. A portion of the left wing had already been sheared off from hitting a light pole. This airplane couldn't gain altitude because the pilots forgot to set the flaps and slats for takeoff and the alarm for alerting the pilots their aircraft wasn't configured properly for takeoff failed to sound. I was on another flight but it stunned me to hear about this on the news and that one little girl with purple fingernails survived. Then they apparently didn't know her name. I think about this crash everyday since 1987. Captain Maus told the Co-pilot David Dodds the auto throttle wouldn't engage then called out the take off computer wasn't set. Dodds engaged it and said " There you go. You can get it now' and Captain Maus cursed then laughed in away that indicated disbelief the computer was set. But Dodds called V1 and rotate, the STALL warning started sounding and they rolled left, right, back to the left and clipped a light pole because with the flaps and slats at zero the airplane wouldn't fly. I just don't understand how two experienced pilots could make such a mistake. Then it bothers me when the Captain discovered the take off computer wasn't set, why oh why didn't he abort the takeoff and say let's see what else we forgot!! I'm at a loss to understand how the pilots made those two deadly mistakes. Sooner or later I go over that puzzle in my mind everyday. Seeing the crash I imagine you may think about this most days too. I've flown several times since but never on the day an airliner crashed. And we've been lucky. The last fullsize passenger airliner to crash with loss of life was in the United States was in New York in 2001.

[@Utubin]

@@boblackey1 Very sobering comments from the both of you. The (IF ONLY's) in life,right? My how life would be (IF). Forever in our prayers.

[@CruceEntertainment]

I think one of the worst pilot f ups after this one was the Comair 5191 in Lexington where they took off from the wrong runway that wasn’t long enough. FO was the sole survivor, ironically.

[@sarahalbers5555]

I think the Air Florida crash falls into this category, also. The pilots couldn't be bothered to properly de ice the plane.

[@brendastokes9245]

I remember this I knew someone who was on the plane Prayers for the victims Family.

[@daniellatimer1876]

I was coming home from California on a Northwest plane when this happened. I was 16 & this was my first time flying without family members. My parents were driving to the airport from up in Northern Michigan to pick me up when they heard of the Flight 255 crash. They called my sister & found out it wasn't my flight. When I did get home, I saw the smoldering wreckage. God Bless Ceclia!

[@lonnieperrin2757]

This plane crash is eerily very similar to what happened in the Kenner LA plane crash in 1982. Caused by a thunder storm, only 200 feet up before it came crashing down into a kenner neighborhood and only a 1 lone survivor who happened to be a little girl. Tell me that ain't a strange coincidence.

[@trishacobb1347]

My neighbors worked with clean up crew so sad

[@jeffreykielwasser3637]

I still remember that crash. I traveled that area quite frequently now. It's changed alot since then. Still feel there should be a permanent marker there. The last thing I remember there were crosses,then trees planted there

[@ryancarriveau87]

there is a permanent monument on the hill by 94 where all the pine trees are

[@theresewilliamson9057]

There is a memorial off the Middle Belt exit off I-94.

[@musicnerd72]

The guy in the video literally explains this.

[@neferittihill420]

I remember this I was 12 yr old.

[@CruceEntertainment]

I was 12 also. I remember being very confused about it. I remember it being a very hot and humid summer night, looking out the front door of the house and it being so quiet in the neighborhood, but knowing not far away there was this awful tragedy. Those pilots really f’ed up.

[@davidder4516]

One little girl lived thru that crash wounder how she's doing nowadays?

[@vivianbarths6022]

She's married with kids now

[@divides_by_zero]

I wasn't aware of this tragedy. So sad the memorial is hidden. I've been going to Detroit at least once a year for the last 25 years. I've been driving right past it without knowing it each time I return my rental car. I was there just 4 days ago. I plan on seeing it next time I am in town.

[@AnnMitt]

I remember that plane crash. 💔

[@Tracey..H]

❤️

[@godblessamerica7048]

August 16, 1987. Northwest Flight 255. I will never ever forget. I have ties to this terrible day. It still brings tears to my eyes 35 years later. At the time, this was the 2nd worst airplane accident in US history, after the May 25, 1979, American Airlines Flight 191 crash in Chicago, with 273 fatalities. I was stationed in Tucson, Arizona, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and was a Senior Airmen. I served with the Englerts, and knew them for 3 and a half years. Karen was a Staff Sargent and was the NCO (non-commission officer) in charge of my shop. Charles was in our shop when I first arrived for duty, but later went into the reserves, attended college and worked for the USPS. They where also very good friends. My wife did daycare for Charles Jr. (14 months old) while they were at work. My wife and I house sat for them while they visited their parents back east. We were supposed to pick them up at the Tucson Arizona airport that night. It was a beautiful day as we waited for the time to go to the airport. That beautiful day turned into the worst day of my life when I got that phone call. Karen’s father called us and he was concerned that they were on that airplane. Of course, we went to the airport anyway. While waiting at the Tucson Airport, we called the airline to get any information that we could. They asked if we were relatives and I lied. I said that my wife was Karen’s sister. The airline said that they were listed as being on that flight. We still waited at the Airport for the connection flight to arrive in Tucson hoping for a miracle, but they didn’t get off the airplane. As we privately hugged and cried, a news station was filming. I’m so glad that they did not approach us. I had a copy of the local news story on VHS that a friend recorded for us, but it was destroyed in a house fire several years later. We went back to their home, but didn’t get much sleep that night. In the days that followed, I was ordered to turn over the house keys to the Air Force. I was given the solemn duty to accompany an Air Force Officer to the airport to pickup their parents so they could pack up their belongings. The Air Force Base held a memorial service. This happened 3 months to the day that my Air Force service was ending and I spent my remaining time in a mental fog. I went to the 34th annual memorial on August 16, 2021 at the crash site in Romulus, Michigan. It was my first. I talked with the first responders that found Cecilia and transported her in the ambulance. May God Bless you all!

[@100Aces]

You’re a moron! Quit plugging your book on EVERY SINGLE video of 255 crash.

[@sarahalbers5555]

How very awful. I don't think I could keep it together. You never get over these tragedies, do you?

[@SixFeetFive]

I was told a lie all these years As it pertains to the trees one of my family members told me they planted those trees in honor of the victims they said it was one tree for each life lost. 😢😣😩 Romulus did that on purpose.

[@smichaels10]

I was 10 years old when this happened. My first experience hearing about an absolute disaster. Terrifying.

[@raymondszybowicz7597]

I was in my back yard about 4 miles East of metro airport in Taylor Mich saw sparks when the plane wing hit the light pole then when the plane hit the car building then when when it exploded when it hit the overpass.

[@Real_Moon-Moon]

My heart goes out to everyone affected. I can't believe it has been so long. I wasn't born yet when this occurred. I wouldn't be until over 13 years afterwards.

[@bigpapamilk3089]

This is honestly such a really sad thing to see... God bless her soul, losing her parents at such a young age, I can only image how it was for her growing up.

[@CruceEntertainment]

I wish some executives from Northworst would have served prison time for having pilots out there that would have done this. Yes the pilots were responsible, but those in charge of those pilots should have been held accountable too.

[@smichaels10]

So fortunate that she wasn't old enough to remember the actual event.

[@iamgriff]

Lol at the 0:33 mark is my long time friends father. I forgot they were right there. Good morning America had them on also

[@johnwoodall3791]

So Sad that in this Day & Age this could have happened with Pilots making such a Horrible Mistake which cost them their Lives & Most of The other Crew & of Course the Passengers. I say most because of that Very Young Girl who Survived. What a Little Champion She Is & I wonder Where she is Today & how She is Going. I think I Just Saw Her & Congratulations & I hope your Future is One To Be Lived & is one Filled with Happiness because you Deserve It. In terms of Journalistic Reporting this is pretty much that you want to see. A person sitting & telling the Story for what it was. I saw the Scrambled Journalistic Reporting of that which Enveloped the Crash of the Pacific Southwest Airlines B727 - 200 after a Mid Air Collision. These Reports were in my College Library in Brisbane Queensland Australia in the Aviation Incident Reports Files. I looked at each & every Report from all the Incidents & it is At Times Hard To Read. When i say that I mean in Relation to Dehumanising The Incidents. People Died & Yes the Pictures Of The Pacific Southwest Airlines Jet going down in Flames adorned even our at the time afternoon Newspapers & it was all about the Fascination of the Situation. Yes, No Doubt a Great Story for the News Journalists but what About Those Who Had Just Died & the Affect it would have on their Loved Ones. The Newspaper I talk of had as it's Caption Surrounded by Sharks Teeth which took up the Entire Front Cover & was "Death Dive". I think we all knew what was about to happen to those poor Souls. Again it looks that Error was involved by People Engaged in the Aviation Sector be it Crew or Air Traffic Control. We weren't there so the Afterwards Investigation I feel left a Few things Technically still Unanswered. I was born in 1990 & This Incident here took place 3 Years before I was born & the PSA flight was in the late 70's. This Video is Well Explained & Documented. Thankyou for Posting on KZbin. Regards John

[@CruceEntertainment]

8:57 I remember having a dial-up modem for my Apple computer at that age, and there were “bulletin boards” that people could communicate with each other lol

[@damon9408]

I remember this. It was hot, humid & stormy that night

[@CruceEntertainment]

I remember that too. I was only 12, and I kind of understood why there might be an accident in something like that. But of course I had no idea about the flaps thing.

[@norb.engineering]

What was the lottery number for that day...3 digits. 255

[@m42037]

No way

[@m42037]

@Arthur Ridus Out country don't celebrate God anymore because the liberals will get offended

[@jimmylieb5225]

Fdjt

[@robcapen8336]

I didnt know this story, but thank you for excellent journalism

[@evanswackyvideos6027]

Those are called Flaps and Slats, not Flats and Slats!

[@Highland_Moo]

I can’t concentrate on what he was saying due to that Hank fella wearing inappropriate shoes and no socks…..gross.

[@jjlarson74]

in the face of grave adversity this special young lady has used this tragedy to save others, this selfless act of kindness should reflect us as a society if we ever intend to achieve true social progress!!! ❤️much love dear!