Discovered Under Woman’s Body, Girl, 4, Clings to Life : Not Known if She Was on Jetliner

A 4-year-old girl clung to life today after rescue workers sifting the debris of a plane crash that killed 154 people found her shielded under the body of a woman who was killed in Sunday night’s air disaster.

“Her survival was due to being padded by her mother, at least we assume it was her mother,” said Pam Davidson, a Taylor Ambulance paramedic who was present when the child was found.

The girl was in critical condition today at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, said hospital spokeswoman Catherine Cureton. The girl suffered severe burns over a fourth of her body and other serious injuries.

It was not immediately clear whether the girl had been on the plane, which burst into flames shortly after takeoff and crashed in the second-worst U.S. air disaster.

“The child was found during a wash-down by Romulus Fire,” Davidson said. “Cries were heard from the fire. They pulled back some wreckage and found an older woman who had expired. They lifted her body and found a child.

“There was debris everywhere, and there was no way to determine if the wreckage was part of the plane or another vehicle.”

Flight 255, which had originated in Saginaw, was en route to Phoenix and John Wayne Airport in Southern California when it crashed in clear weather at 8:46 p.m. Investigators were checking reports it was on fire before it plunged, and the FBI was sent to the scene because of reports there might have been an explosion before the crash.

“It was already on fire,” said Pam Hughes, an Avis Rental Car employee who was at work when the plane clipped the Avis building. “I saw a wing fall. It was so close. I could see the windows. . . . Those windows keep bothering me.”

John Anthony, spokesman for the FBI’s Detroit office, said an initial investigation turned up no evidence of foul play.

“No information concerning a bomb or any tampering ever came to our attention,” Anthony said. “The situation could change with the additional investigation by the FAA, but so far that has not developed.”

Sabotage Ruled Out

Northwest officials also ruled out sabotage by airline employees disgruntled with contract disparities after Northwest acquired Republic Airlines last year. The airline has confirmed reports of vandalism at airports in both Detroit and Minneapolis but emphasized that none involved aircraft or passenger safety.

At least 152 people died on the plane and two more on the ground, and at least six people on the ground were injured, authorities said.

The death toll from the crash made it the nation’s second-worst. The crash of an American Airlines DC-10 on May 25, 1979, at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is the nation’s worst air disaster. It killed 275 people.

Northwest would not release a passenger list, adding that that information would have to come from federal authorities. “Our obligation is to protect the privacy of our passengers,” airline spokesman Red Tyler said.

However, the airline did confirm that Nick Vanos, 24, backup center for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Assn., was among the passengers on the flight. Suns General Manager Jerry Colangelo said he was told Vanos had a boarding pass for Flight 255 and checked in at the gate for the flight.

Skidded Under Overpass

Witnesses said the airliner, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, rocked from side to side and plunged to the ground moments after takeoff Sunday night, trailing fire as it skidded beneath an Interstate 94 overpass, and broke into dozens of burning pieces on the interstate and Middlebelt Road, which borders Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

State police closed Interstate 94, and Trooper William Burd said officials don’t expect it to reopen until Tuesday because it is covered with debris.

“Once you move evidence, in certain situations, you’re destroying facts we need to know. Things, such as where they find bodies, where they find parts of the airplane, are crucial,” said Alan Pollock, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash.

Pollock said the black box and cockpit voice recorder from the airliner had been recovered and were sent to Washington for analysis in NTSB laboratories. It will be 60 days before a transcript is released, he said.

Some debris had been taken from the site, and six people were arrested for allegedly looting Sunday night, officials said.

A horrified motorist who saw the crash said today he was turned away by heat and flames, unable to help victims escape.

“You could see people jumping out of the windows and on fire and falling back down,” said Gordon Atkins, 26, an airport employee who was driving to work when the plane lost power and plummeted.

“There was not much we could do.”