Northwest Airlines Flight 255 - in Remembrance

In Remembrance

In memory of the victims, a black granite memorial, which was erected in 1994 - seven years after the event - stands at the top of the hill surrounded by blue spruce trees at Middlebelt Road and Interstate 94, the site of the crash. The memorial has a dove with a ribbon in its beak saying "Their spirit still lives on..." and below it are the names of those who perished in the crash.

A monument to the victims of the crash, many of whom were from the Phoenix area, stands next to Phoenix City Hall in downtown Phoenix.

On August 16, 2007, the twentieth anniversary of the crash, a memorial service was held at the Detroit crash site. For some of the people affected by the incident, it was the first time they had returned to the site since the crash.

After the crash in 1987, Northwest followed standard procedure and no longer used 255 as a flight number. From late 1987 until Northwest was acquired by Delta in early 2010, the last nonstop flight from Detroit to Phoenix was renumbered as Flight 261. Delta continues the retirement of 255 by Northwest, as there is currently no Delta flight 255.

On August 16, 2012, the 25th anniversary of the crash, a memorial service was held at the crash site. Family and friends of the victims and many people from across the Metro Detroit area including local media attended and a local priest read each name aloud. Many attended after local media revealed recent footage of Cecila, which no one, except for few, knew about the whereabouts or how she was doing after the tragedy.