The second worst U.S. air disaster occurred August 16, 1987. A Northwest airliner was cleared for take-off from Detroit. The passengers heard the First Officer Dodds announce, "Ladies and gentlemen, ah, we're currently number one for departure . . . Should be rolling in a couple of minutes."¹ It was only after second into the flight that signs of disaster appeared as the pilot's control column began to shake and a mechanical voice was heard in the cockpit, "Stall . . . Stall . . . Stall." The word "stall" has nothing to do with an airplane's engines, as we thing when it comes to our cars. The word "stall" means that the plane's wings are not moving properly through the air to create lift. It meant that the lift which is supposed to be generated by the wings for takeoff was inadequate. When the pilots heard that warning, they knew that the plane was on the verge of falling out of the sky .

"Fourteen seconds after takeoff, when it should have been 600 feet in the air, the plane was 45 feet above the ground. Hurtling along at 222 mph, it clipped a light pole in a National Car Rental lot, shearing 18 feet off its left wing. Flames burst from the left engine. The plane struck another pole in the Avis lot. Then, in a 5-degree roll to the left, it scrap4d the Avis roof and did a half cartwheel, slamming into a concrete embankment. The front 22 feet of the 148 foot plane broke off and skidded down a two-lane road, sliding under a railroad trestle and two spans of the I-94 freeway, scattering fragments of mental and bodies in its wake."¹

The ultimate cause for the crash was determined to be pilot error. It is believed that the "slats and flaps" on the front and rear edges if the wings, which increase the width of the wing to give greater lift during take-off, had not been extended. The jet could not climb quickly without them being extended. Although they might have still been able to stay airborne without them extended, they were not able to clear the light posts in the car rental lots as they sought to continue climbing. Why both the pilot and the First Officer would not have check the slats and flaps before take-off, which is as routine as checking the rearview mirror when backing out, is unknown. In fact, a verbal robotic warning is built into the plane's operation for safety when the plane's throttle is fully forward and the slats and flaps are not in extended position. However, there was no mechanical or human voice heard on the "black box" recording which indicated that anything was wrong with the slats and flaps!

The error of the pilots, and the apparent failure of the warning system, resulted in 146 passengers, along with six crew members, two Northwest pilots who had hitched a ride, and two motorist dead. Human error and mechanical error are still part of even the most well-trained pilots and the most highly equipped airplanes! When one or both fail, tragedy and disaster are know to reach monumental proportions!

Warning systems are found throughout our society - warning lights on cars, warning labels, alarms systems, buzzers, bells, instruments with red-line markings, warning symptoms, etc. They are all designed to prevent more trouble and even tragic consequences. When warning systems fail to work, as on flight 255, more harm and danger ensues. One of the warning systems that God has built into His world is the teaching and preaching of Bible truth. It is designed to warn people about the loss of lift or even possibilities of a crash.

The loss of lift (depression, despair, discouragement, hopelessness ) and crashing ( divorce, alcoholism, and even suicide) had taken out more people than any airplane disaster, and probably more than all such disasters combined. What went wrong, the warning system was not heard or worst yet, heard and not heeded.