“The National Traffic Safety Administration determines that the probable cause of the accident was the flight crew’s failure to use the taxi checklist to ensure that the flaps and slats were extended for takeoff.” - NTSB Aircraft Accident Report, page 68. Investigators believed human error most likely caused the crash. Rick Pluta was a reporter for United Press International at the time. It was almost two years before I got my first real job in radio. I was nearing the end of my journalism internship at WDIV-TV. My senior year at the University of Michigan was about to begin. The siren, I presume, was from one of the area fire departments, a signal to its first responders to report for duty. via Phoenix had crashed seconds after takeoff from Metro Airport. A few miles from where we stood, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 from Detroit to Santa Ana, Calif. We heard no weather warnings, just news - terrible news. As we stood in the living room of his new place on Arsenal Road, we heard a siren outside - the kind you’d hear if a tornado warning were issued. The forecast that evening called for a chance of thunderstorms. I was helping my brother move into a house in rural Wayne County on August 16, 1987. Editor’s note: the following is a first-person remembrance.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |