Video: '8/16/87: Northwest Plane Crash'

(Sunday, August 16, 1987, at about 8:46 p.m. EDT) — 156 people were killed tonight when Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashed in a ball of flames after taking off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport Sunday night.

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.

The National Transportation Safety Board would determine 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.

Video: 'Air Crash Investigations Mayday 09x02 Alarming Silence Northwest Airlines Flight 255'