Firefighter reflects on 36th anniversary of Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crash
ROMULUS, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - It's been 36 years since Northwest Flight 255 crashed after taking off from Detroit Metro Airport, killing 156 people.
On August 16, 1987, the flight heading to Phoenix crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 154 onboard. Two more people perished on the ground.
John Thiede was one of the first firefighters with the Romulus Fire Department to arrive.
"The dispatcher said we had a plane down. We were thinking maybe just a private plane. And then soon as we went a quarter of a mile, you could see the cockpit on Middlebelt Road," he said.
The crash is considered the deadliest plane wreck in Michigan history.
Thiede was 21 at the time of the crash and a rookie firefighter. He says just as quickly as they arrived at the scene, they began searching for survivors.
Thiede and several others began searching the wreckage when someone reported hearing noises.
"There was a seat upside down, and we moved the chair and checked underneath the chair. When we looked, a hand was coming out from the chair that she was in," he said.
Thiede and others ended up finding four-year-old Cecilia Cichan. She had been traveling with family and is the sole survivor of the crash.
All the while, the wreckage could be seen scattered throughout I-94 and surrounding areas.
"You see the devastation of just the plane and everything around it. I can still visualize a piece of luggage that was hanging off the utility pole off Middlebelt," Thiede said.
On each anniversary, family members gather near the scene of the wreck. They say it's a way to keep memories alive.
"I know I can feel the presence of her from all this time because she was an amazing person, and so was my brother-in-law," said Tom Polec, whose sister and brother-in-law were aboard Flight 255.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined human error contributed to the deadly disaster.
For first responders like Thiede, he will forever remember the gassy smell that filled the air.
"We couldn't even touch people who perished with the warm temperatures there," he said.
Since the crash, Cichan has led a rather quiet life. But she keeps in touch with the firefighter who rescued her years ago.
"I actually went to her wedding in 2007 in Alabama. We actually just texted about a half hour ago," Thiede said.
