The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958 when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport, West Germany. On the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the "Busby Babes", along with supporters and journalists. Twenty of the 44 on the aircraft died at the scene. The injured, some unconscious, were taken to the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich where three more died, resulting in 23 fatalities with 21 survivors.
Now let us know a bit about the background of this accident. In 1956-57 season, the English league was won by Manchester United, managed by Matt Busby. The Football League again denied their champions entry, but Busby and his chairman, with the help of the Football Association's chairman, defied the league and United became the first English team to play in Europe. United were drawn with Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia for the quarter-finals. After beating them 2–1 at Old Trafford, the club was to travel to Yugoslavia for the return
leg. The match was drawn 3–3 but it was enough to send United to the semi-finals. The plane landed in Munich for refuelling at 13:15 GMT.
At 14:19 GMT, the control tower at Munich was told the plane was ready
to take off and gave clearance for take-off, expiring at 14:31. The co-pilot, Captain Kenneth Rayment abandoned the take-off after the pilot, Captain James Thain noticed the port boost pressure gauge fluctuating as the plane reached full power and the engine sounded odd while accelerating. A second attempt was made three minutes later, but called off 40 seconds into the attempt because the engines were running on an over-rich mixture. After the second failure, passengers retreated to the airport lounge. By then, it had started to snow heavily, and it looked unlikely that
the plane would be making the return journey that day. Manchester
United's player Duncan Edwards which is also the most talented England player on that time sent a telegram to his landlady in Manchester. It read: "All flights cancelled, flying tomorrow. Duncan."
 |
| Duncan Edwards |
Rayment moved the throttle forward slowly and released the brakes;
the plane began to accelerate. The plane threw up slush as it gathered speed, and Thain called out the plane's velocity in 10-knot increments. At 85 knots, the port engine began to surge again, and he pulled back
marginally on the port throttle before pushing it forward again. Thain expected the speed to rise, but it fluctuated around 117 knots
before suddenly dropping to 112 knots (207 km/h), and then 105 knots
(194 km/h). Rayment shouted "Christ, we won't make it!", as Thain looked up to see what lay ahead. The plane skidded off the end of the runway, crashed into the
fence surrounding the airport and across a road before its port wing was
torn off as it caught a house. Part of the plane's tail was torn off before the left side of the cockpit hit a tree. The right side of the fuselage hit a wooden hut, inside which was a truck filled with tyres and fuel, which exploded. Twenty passengers died on board, and three died later in hospital.
Twenty-three of the 43 passengers on board
the Elizabethan charter aircraft G-ALZU 'Lord Burghley' lost their lives
in the Munich Air Disaster on Thursday 6th February 1958. They included 11 Manchester United players and crew. It also included Duncan Edwards, although he survived the crash, but died in hospital 15 days later.
 |
| A street in Dudley was named in honour of Edwards |
He also believes the triumph helped ease Busby's sense of responsibility for the tragic consequences of taking the club into Europe.
Charlton said: "It was marvellous because winning the European Cup was something you could aim at to put things right in a way. The accident had happened, this great tragedy and loss.Charlton is convinced, however, that United would have won the European Cup 10 years before they actually did if it had not been for Munich.
 |
| A minute's silence was held at 15:04 |
