MY AM ADVANTAGE

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This column by CCN Executive Editor Mike Killbreath appeared on Aug. 00, 2024 in remembrance of a fatal plane crash in Detroit

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Friday, August 16, 2024 Column

It was 37 years ago today that a then 27-year-old young newspaper editor was forced to take off his journalist hat and pray for families across the tri-county area of Fenton, Linden, Holly and Hartland.

It was a little after 9 pm on a Sunday night alone at my offices of Tri-County News when all the red buttons on our phones were suddenly lit up as calls were ringing off the hook.

Since the phone seldom rang on a Sunday night when I would slip in for a little writing in the solitude of quietness to hopefully be a  bit more creative after my little children went to bed, I was obviously curious why the world wanted to talk with the Tri-County News.

It turns out tri-county area residents were looking for news about survivors because they had friends and loved ones flying out of Detroit Metro Airport.

It was 37 years ago today that tragedy struck in Romulus when Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed just minutes after take-off at Detroit Metro Airport. It was the deadliest plane crash in Michigan's history with 156 people killed. Photos of the wreckage scene beneath the I-94 overpass on Middlebelt Road returned by two of our reporters pictured bodies scattered everywhere. We didn't publish the most gruesome ones which continue to haunt me to this day.

It was the kind of gruesome you just can't erase from your head.

I remember callers crying, asking me to pray with them about their loved ones.

It was an era before cell phones.

They were awaiting word, any word, about whether or not their friends or loved ones were on Northwest Airlines Flight 255.

The miracle of the day was when a 4-year-old survivor was pulled out of the wreckage alive. Her 6-year-old brother was killed and both of her parents did not survive.

Her name was Cecelia Cichan of Tempe, Arizona. I've learned she's now known as Cecelia Crocker. She went away to be raised by an aunt and uncle in Alabama after the crash, and was featured in a 2013 documentary called "Sole Survivor." It featured four people who were the only survivors in tragic plane crashes.

"When I realized I was the only person to survive that plane crash, I was maybe in middle school, high school, maybe, being an adolescent and confused," Crocker said in the documentary. "So it was just extra stress for me. I remember feeling angry and survivor's guilt. 'Why didn't my brother survive? Why didn't anybody? Why me?'"

The flight was headed to Phoenix where a layover was scheduled before departing for its final destination in Santa Ana, California.

Witnesses at the time reported that the plane struggled to gain altitude and the National Transportation Safety Board report said that shortly after the takeoff: "The wings of the airplane rolled to the left and the right about 35 inches in each direction. The plane's instability caused the left wing to strike a light pole beyond the runway, resulting in significant damage to the wing. The plane then struck several other light poles and the roof of a rental car building before ultimately crashing around 8:46 p.m. onto Middlebelt in Romulus. The airplane broke up as it slid across the ground, and postimpact fires erupted along the wreckage path. Three occupied vehicles on a road adjacent to the airport and numerous vacant vehicles in a rental car parking lot along the airplane’s path were destroyed by impact forces and/or fire."

The official report also showed "negligence" as a factor in the tragic crash that claimed 156 victims. Six were crew members and two people were on the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board's conclusion was that flight crew failed to follow proper checklists and procedures, including accurately setting the plane's flaps and slats for takeoff that led to a loss of control shortly after departure. The investigation also pointed out a demanding work load of the flight crew during the quick turnaround time between flights on that particular evening. 

Families of survivors stay in touch to this day via a Facebook group with more than 250 members.

The only victims from the Metro Flint regional area who were killed in the crash were Douglas A. Hagler, 31, of Burton and Gary A. Kimmel, 34, of Fenton.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall was his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms