Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport on August 16, 1987, at about 8:46 p.m. EDT (00:46 UTC August 17), killing all six crew members and 148 of its 149 passengers, along with two people on the ground. The sole survivor was a 4-year-old girl, Cecelia Cichan, who sustained serious injuries. It was the second-deadliest aviation accident at the time in the United States.Aircraft and crewThe incident aircraft was a twin-engine McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (registration number N312RC) a derivative of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and part of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series of aircraft. The jet was manufactured in 1981, entering service with Republic Airlines and acquired by Northwest Airlines in its merger with Republic in 1986. At the time of the accident, the aircraft in question was painted in a hybrid livery between Northwest Airlines and Republic Airlines, featuring blue Republic striping with red Northwest titles and a white tail.Flight 255's captain was John R. Maus, age 57. Maus was an experienced pilot who had worked for the airline for 31 years. Other pilots who had flown with Maus described him as a "competent and capable pilot" who had a reputation for operating "by-the-book".
