The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. They survived when no one else did. Her uncle Franklin Lumpkin and her aunt Rita, her mother's sister, kept her sheltered from the attention once she left hospital after seven weeks of treatment, allowing her to grow up in obscurity in Birmingham, Alabama. ', Looking for answers: Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board examine the black box from Flight 255 which revealed crew had skipped some safety check-ups before take-off, Tragedy: This week marks the 25th anniversary of Northwest Airlines flight 255 which crashed shortly after take-off on August 16, 1987, Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy. These work to control speed and angle of take-off. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the crash was likely caused by  crew’s failure to check the slats and flats on the wings. This severed part of the left wing and set jet fuel stored in the wing on fire. Recently, his emotional journey has led him out of darkness and anger. The young woman has decided to tell her story as part of a new documentary called Sole Survivor featuring passengers who lived through plane crashes against all odds. The death toll of 156 included two people in cars. He desperately wishes to honor that promise. An airline co-pilot, Jim Polehinke was at the controls in 2006 when his jetliner crashed during takeoff from Lexington, Kentucky, killing all 49 others on board. Cecelia Cichan was the sole survivor of a 1987 Michigan plane crash which took the lives of 156 people including her entire family. In an interview in 2012 with The Mirror, she said that the pain from her injuries had faded over time but she has a tattoo of an aeroplane on her left wrist to remind her of a tragedy that she thinks about “every day”. Lieutenant Thiede said: 'To see her come down the aisle, my heart, I lost it really. A four-year-old girl who was the sole survivor of a plane crash which killed everyone else on board has spoken for the first time, 25 years after the disaster. Cecelia said that she had finally decided to open up about the crash because the film was a group project 'and that’s why I’m willing to get involved and be part of something bigger'. The man who pulled her from wreckage more than 20 years ago, firefighter John Thiede, told the Today show: 'I heard that faint cry a baby doll makes. Lamson will never know whether that decision saved his life. 'I looked to my right and I could see an arm, kind of bent, coming out of a chair.'. The only survivor of a 1985 airline crash that killed his father and 69 others in Reno, Nevada, Lamson has been seeking out sole survivors like himself, to learn from them but also to help them. Cecelia, who is now 29 and married, has never spoken publicly but has a small tattoo of an airplane  on her left wrist to remind her of a tragedy that she thinks about 'every day'. (CNN) — It's a terrifying, life-changing experience that few of us can fully understand: survival of a large plane crash. Now, exactly 25 years after the … Firefighters douse wreckage of a Lockheed Electra which crashed January 21, 1985, killing all 71 on board, except George Lamson Jr. George Lamson Jr. is on a quest. As the plane was about to crash, Lamson made a pact with God that if he survived, he would work to do good and help others. The left wing clipped a lamp post in the rental car park about half a mile from the end of the runway. He thinks it would help her to spend time with others who've suffered the same trauma. So, how did Cecelia Cichan (in Seat 8C) survive? The crash was remarkable for its ferocity even in the physics of air disasters. She was released from hospital in October 1987 and lived with her aunt and uncle, Rita and Frank Lumpkin, in Alabama, where they shielded her from the media. Bahia was hospitalized after rescuers found her floating on plane wreckage without a life vest. Now an adult, she has a tattoo of an airliner on her left wrist, signifying a fiery ordeal that she has no memory of. But they still cope with confusion, guilt and the complicated emotional aftermath of what it means to be a sole survivor. He's turned a corner onto a more enriching and hopeful path. Cecelia suffered horrific injuries including a fractured skull, broken leg and collarbone and third-degree burns. How would you feel if you were the only survivor of an airplane accident? Northwest Airlines Flight 255 exploded shortly after taking off at 8.46pm on August 16, 1987. Cecelia has kept in touch with the families of those who died in the 1987 crash - including her rescuer Lieutenant Thiede. It's a real Chestburster! © 2020 Family Wise Limited. She says she feels "almost inferior" because others "had to work to survive, and I just woke up in the hospital.". He met her for the first time on her wedding day when he watched her walk down the aisle to  become Cecelia Crocker. 'She understands that she was involved in an accident. She underwent four skin grafts for the burns on her arms and legs. Cecelia was found by a paramedic who heard her moan and saw her arm twitch. Hurry up already! All Rights Reserved. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. She told film-makers: 'It’s kind of hard not to think about it. So, how did Cecelia Cichan (in Seat 8C) survive? Never forgotten: Cecelia, 29, says she is reminded of the crash every time she looks in the mirror. The flight was cleared for take-off at 20:44 on 16 August 1987. Just to see her in person was something.'. Hitting the ground, the plane started to break apart as it skidded along a road and it was almost immediately engulfed in flames. So what IS essential? It was believed that Cecelia survived the crash because her mother shielded her with her own body. 'But she doesn't have any memory of how it happened.'. EXCLUSIVE: Four out of 10 young people say they will BREAK Covid lockdown rules this Christmas - more than... Anti-lockdown and Million Mask March protestors clash with police in London over the new coronavirus... 'We've closed all of Cornwall down for three people in hospital': Healthcare assistant who publicly resigned... British Airways suspends ALL flights from Gatwick airport and will furlough 'many more' staff as new Covid... Germany closes in on Britain's daily coronavirus cases with a record 20,000 new infections as WHO warns of a... Justice Secretary Robert Buckland blames the PUBLIC for second lockdown - insisting it is because 'people... Bank of England pumps another £150bn into economy and warns GDP will slump 2 per cent this quarter due to... 'Covid can kiss my back-end, I'm giving my mum the send-off she deserves! "It was as if an angel had wrapped his arms around him and held him," his wife said. Only a handful of people have come through major plane crashes alive and alone. She’d been clinging to it for over nine hours. Destruction: A member of the investigations team working on the crash of Northwest Airlines flight 255 looks inside the cockpit two days after the tragedy, Devastating loss: Cecelia was just four when her father Michael, mother Paula and six-year-old brother David were killed in the air disaster, Disaster: The plane, bound for Phoenix, Arizona, crashed shortly after take-off at 8.46pm near Detroit killing everyone but one child on board. Dr Jai Prasad, the doctor who led the team which cared for the four-year-old, said at the time: 'She understands she has lost her father and her mother, and her brother. The comments below have not been moderated. Among the dead were her mother and 151 others. Some 156 people died, including two on the ground, in what remains one of the deadliest air disasters in U.S. history. Miracle: Cecelia Cichan, 29, was four years old when she survived a plane crash in Michigan which killed the other 154 people on board including her parents and six-year-old brother, Sole survivor: Four-year-old Cecelia was dug from the burning wreckage of Flight 255 by a firefighter having suffered a fractured skull, broken leg and collarbone and third-degree burns, Wreckage: Bodies covered with plastic bags lie strewn across the highway where the plane came down in Romulus, Michigan. The firefighter spoke out as part of the documentary, made by Yellow Wing Productions. Twenty-seven years ago today, the Northwest Airlines flight 255 crashed on take-off in Detroit, killing 154 people on board; the sole survivor was a four-year-old girl. More than 2,000 presents and 30,000 cards were sent to the University of Michigan Medical Center but her guardians asked that they be distributed to local children's hospitals. Northwest Airlines flight 255 crashed shortly after take-off at an airport in Romulus, Michigan en route to Phoenix, Arizona on August 16, 1987. After her airliner crashed into the Indian Ocean off the island nation of Comoros in 2009, Bahia Bakari clung to a piece of plane wreckage for more than nine hours without a life vest. Polehinke lost his left leg as a result of the incident. CNN Films' "Sole Survivors" examines four of those stories: The toddler, the "Miracle Girl," the co-pilot and the seeker. Rescuers found her alive under a seat not far from their bodies. The news media dubbed her La Miraculée, or the Miracle Girl. The crash was remarkable for its ferocity even in the physics of air disasters. Family history research: Get lost in records. However, the DC-9 never soared upward. Cecelia Cichan, whose married name is now Crocker, was the lone survivor of the crash. After an usually long take-off roll, the plane finally lifted off. Published: 17:23 GMT, 14 August 2012 | Updated: 20:29 GMT, 14 August 2012. He has spent years fighting accusations by investigators that he and his pilot were to blame. The medical examiner for Wayne County in Michigan had no explanation for how she survived. Social media goes into overdrive with memes mocking slow count of ballots in... Lone survivor recalls one of worst US plane crashes.

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