Photographer of Flight 255 Survivor Recalls Photo Shoot

In the days and weeks following the crash of Flight 255, photographers clamored to get a picture of little Cecelia Cichan in the University of Michigan Hospital.

The four-year-old was treated at the hospital for injuries and burns she sustained when the plane crashed shortly after take-off Aug. 16, 1987, from Detroit-Metro Airport.

She was the only person to survive the crash which claimed 156 lives, and throughout her rehabilitation, her family shielded her from the media.

But in early October 1987, just days before she was to be released, officials at the hospital convinced her family to share a photo with the media.

"There was a bounty on this kid's head for people who wanted to run any photograph," said Tom Treuter, a freelance photographer who worked at the hospital in 1987. "The family agreed with restrictions ... the family would  actually be choosing the images and I didn’t release them to anyone."

Treuter, 59, who currently is a certified retinal angiographer at Associated Retinal Consultants, PC, in the Beaumont Medical Center in St. Clair Shores, got access to Cichan three days before her discharge.

He took photos of her to make color prints, color slides and black and white prints, to give to the media on the day she was discharged.

"What I remember most was how unremarkable this little girl was, she was just a little 4-year-old girl who happened to be the sole survive in this horrific plane crash," said Treuter, of Pleasant Ridge. "She was just a neat little kid who I had the same fun with I would have with any 4-year-old."

During the photo shoot he set up a flash under the cover and she would set it off to light up her blankets.

"I tried to make it as entertaining as possible," he said.

After he took the photos, he raced to develop and print the pictures. While en route, he got a speeding ticket. Once he arrived at his destination, he had to swear the employees to secrecy.

On Oct. 9, Cichan was released. To throw off the waiting media, employees brought their daughters to work in matching outfits as decoys to allow Cichan and her family to secretly depart.

That day, the photo was released and printed in newspaper around the world. It also appeared on the front page of the National Enquirer, The Star and Life Magazine.

"For me, I didn't work in commercial press work, it was pretty remarkable," he said.

While Treuter and Cichan will be forever be linked by the photo, he hasn't spoken with her since they met in the hospital, and he will not be at the memorial.