Tuesday marks 35 years since a plane bound for Phoenix crashed in Michigan, killing more than 150 people.
Steven Acker remembers that day because he lost his brother Bill Acker in the crash.
Decades later Steven and his wife returned to a marker in Phoenix to honor Bill, a passenger on Flight 255.
“I tell everyone I don't need a birthday because it’s not a happy day,” said Steven.
The day the plane crashed was also Steven’s 27th birthday, but Bill was heading back to Arizona after both brothers took a trip to Michigan.
“We had gone back to celebrate my parents 40th wedding anniversary,” said Steven.
The brothers had returned to Michigan to see their family.
“I had come back a week early, and he was on his way back,” said Steven.
On August 16, 1987, Bill never made it back to the Valley.
Northwest Airlines Flight 255 took off from the Detroit area but didn't make it far. It ended up crashing moments after takeoff.
“My parents called and said that was the flight that my brother was supposed to be on,” said Steven.
Investigators blamed the crash on a number of pilot errors.
Here in Arizona, Steven still went to the airport that day.
“Up on the board it said that Flight 255 had been canceled,” said Steven. “They took us into a room and told us that the flight had gone down on its take off from Detroit, and the rest of it was a blur.”
In the weeks following, Steven remembers returning to the crash site and even his family being given his brother's wallet. It was recovered along with other passengers’ belongings, salvaged from the wreckage.
“It’s hard when you find a wallet with credit cards and pictures,” said Steven.
35 years later, Steven and his wife gathered with a group at the marker in Phoenix.
They came to remember Bill and hear his name read.
“It’s been so long it seems like a distant memory, but you always remember the good times,” said Steven.
Steven remembers his brother just loving to live life and working as a manager at Hensley Beverage Company. The two had come to the Valley in 1980, even living together for some of the seven years before the crash.
Bill is just one of 110 people from Arizona killed on that day.
Steven hopes people in the Valley don't forget Aug. 16, or what happened to Flight 255.
“Just remember the families,” said Steven.
