Memorial set for victims of 1987 Mich. plane crash

ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) — Family members of those who died in a plane crash near Detroit Metropolitan Airport 25 years ago are expected to attend a Thursday memorial at the crash site.

The Phoenix-bound jetliner crashed on Aug. 16, 1987, killing 154 people aboard and two on the ground. The lone survivor was Cecelia Cichan, who was 4 at the time.

Cichan recently discussed the crash for "Sole Survivor," an upcoming documentary featuring stories of plane crash survivors.

"I think about the accident every day. It's kind of hard not to think about it when I look in the mirror," she said in a clip from the film that was broadcast by WDIV-TV in Detroit.

An image from the film shows Cichan with a tattoo of an airplane on her wrist.

Thursday marks 25 years since Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed in the Detroit suburb of Romulus. The plane was just clearing the runway at 8:46 p.m. when it tilted slightly. The left wing clipped a light pole, and the damaged airliner sheared the top off a rental car building.

The McDonnell Douglas MD80 left a half-mile trail of bodies, charred wreckage, magazines and trays of food along Middle Belt Road when it crashed on Aug. 16, 1987.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded the plane's crew failed to set the wing flaps properly for takeoff. The agency also said a cockpit warning system did not alert the crew to the problem.

Cichan's parents and brother were killed. She is now married, and her name is Cecelia Crocker.

The memorial event is set for Thursday night at the Northwest Flight 255 memorial site on the embankment of Middlebelt Road at the entrance to Interstate 94 in Romulus.

The service is to include a reading of the names of the victims.