Munich air disaster
An Airspeed Ambassador similar to the one involved in the crash.
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| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 6 February 1958 |
| Summary | Take-off failure, slush on the runway |
| Site |
Munich, West Germany 48°07′34.09″N 11°40′39.98″E / 48.1261361°N 11.6777722°E |
| Passengers | 38 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Fatalities | 23 |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 19 |
| Survivors | 21 |
| Aircraft type | Airspeed AS-57 Ambassador |
| Aircraft name | Lord Burghley |
| Operator | British European Airways |
| Registration | G-ALZU |
| Flight origin | Belgrade Airport, Yugoslavia |
| Stopover | Munich-Riem Airport, West Germany |
| Destination | Manchester Airport, England |
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.
The football team was returning from a European Cup match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), against Red Star Belgrade. The flight stopped to refuel in Munich because a non-stop flight from Belgrade to Manchester was out of the "Elizabethan"-class Airspeed Ambassador aircraft's range. After refuelling, pilots James Thain and Kenneth Rayment twice abandoned take-off because of boost surging in the left engine. Fearing they would get too far behind schedule, Captain Thain rejected an overnight stay in Munich in favour of a third take-off attempt. By then, snow was falling, causing a layer of slush to form at the end of the runway. After the aircraft hit the slush, it ploughed through a fence beyond the end of the runway and the left wing was torn off after hitting a house. Fearing the aircraft might explode, Thain began evacuating passengers while Manchester United goalkeeper Harry Gregg helped pull survivors from the wreckage.
An investigation by West German airport authorities originally blamed Thain, saying he did not de-ice the aircraft's wings, despite eyewitness statements to the contrary. It was later established that the crash was caused by the slush on the runway, which slowed the plane too much to take off. Thain was cleared in 1968, ten years after the incident.
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