Flight 255 Disaster - Plymouth, MI.
Posted by: 
Jagman714
N 42° 20.694 W 083° 36.192
17T E 285570 N 4691353
This Disaster Memorial is located in the United Memorial Garden Cemetery, PLymouth, MI.
Waymark Code: WM4EEJ
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 08/12/2008
Views: 122
Text from Marker:
Memory Comes to Life
When we recall the date August 16,1987 and the air tragedy at Metropolitan Airport seconds after takeoff, 156 persons were ushered into another world.
Four year old Cecilia Cichan received a most precious gift, Life.Her name will be recorded in aviation history as the sole survivor of flight 255.
The little girl on the swing statue is a very moving memorial to the lone survivor little Cecilia Cichan.
Northwest Airlines Flight 255 was a flight that originated in Saginaw, Michigan's MBS International Airport 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, near Detroit and at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. The flight crashed after takeoff in Detroit on August 16, 1987, at about 20:46 EDT (8:46 p.m. local time, 00:46 UTC August 17), killing all of the crew and passengers except for a 4-year-old girl, Cecelia Cichan, who sustained serious injuries.
Flight 255 began its takeoff rotation from 1,200 to 1,500 feet (366-457 m) from the Detroit runway's end. During the initial climb, the plane rolled about 35 degrees in each direction. The left wing struck a light pole about ½ mile (800 m) from the end of the runway, struck other light poles, the roof of a car rental building, and then the ground. The aircraft continued skidding across the ground on the runway centerline near I-94.