The Nation - News from April 24, 1989

Douglas Aircraft Co., manufacturer of a Northwest Airlines jet that crashed on takeoff at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and killed 156 people on Aug. 16, 1987, is asking the federal government to reopen its investigation into the disaster because of evidence the plane’s warning system may have been shut off. The Detroit News reported that Douglas said the plane’s pilots may have intentionally disconnected a similar alarm on another McDonnell Douglas MD-80 two days earlier. In a petition filed with the National Transportation Safety Board, Douglas said the pilots of a plane that landed at Santa Ana on Aug. 14, 1987, pulled a warning system circuit breaker, which silenced the warning sound. The NTSB concluded last May that the warning system on the jet failed to alert the pilots that they had not set the wing flaps and slats, which provide necessary lift for takeoff. The board said power to the warning system had been interrupted but could not determine why.