Today, is the 50th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster, an important day in the history of my team, Manchester United. Rather than try to explain it, I'll post the explanation from wikipedia...
The Munich air disaster took place on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at the Munich-Riem airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the Busby Babes, along with a number of supporters and journalists. Twenty-three of the 44 passengers on board the aircraft died in the disaster.
Captain James Thain, the pilot, tried to take off twice, but both attempts were aborted due to engine surging. When a third take off was attempted, at 3:04 pm, the plane failed to gain adequate height and crashed into the fence surrounding the airport, then into a house, which was unoccupied at the time.
Although the crash was originally blamed on pilot error, it was subsequently found to have been caused by the build-up of slush towards the ends of the runway, causing deceleration of the aircraft and preventing safe flying speed from being attained. During the take off, the aircraft had attained a speed of 117 kt (217 km/h) but on entering the slush speed dropped to 105 kt (194 km/h), too slow for flight, with not enough runway remaining to abort the take off. Aircraft with tail-wheel undercarriages had not been greatly affected by slush, due to the geometry of these undercarriages in relation to the aircraft's centre of gravity, but newer types, such as the Ambassador, with nose wheel landing-gear and the main wheels behind the centre of gravity, were found to be vulnerable. The accident resulted in the instigation of operating limits for the amount of slush build-up permitted on runways.
Despite this conclusion, the German airport authorities (who were legally responsible for the state of the airport's runways, but generally not aware of the then unknown danger of slush on runways for aircraft like the Ambassador) took legal action against Captain Thain, who had survived the crash, claiming he had taken off without deicing the wings and that responsibility for the accident was his alone, despite several witnesses stating that this was not so. The basis of the German authorities' case relied on a photograph of the aircraft (published in several newspapers) taken shortly before take off, that appeared to show snow on the upper wing surfaces. When the original negative was examined, however, no snow or ice could be seen, the 'snow' having been due to the published pictures being produced from a copy negative. The witnesses were not called to the German inquiry and proceedings against Thain dragged on until 1968, when he was finally cleared of any responsibility for the crash. As the official cause, British authorities recorded a build-up of melting snow on the runway which prevented the Elizabethan from reaching the required take-off speed. Thain, having been dismissed by BEA shortly after the accident and never reengaged, retired and returned to run his poultry farm in Berkshire. He died of a heart attack at the age of 53, in 1975.
Seven of Manchester United's players died immediately, and Duncan Edwards died from his injuries on 21 February at the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich. Johnny Berry and Jackie Blanchflower were both injured to such an extent that they never played again.
Matt Busby was seriously injured and had to stay in hospital for two months after the crash, and was read his last rites twice. There was speculation that the club would fold, but a threadbare United team completed the 1957-1958 season, with United's coach Jimmy Murphy standing in as manager.[4] A team largely made up of reserve and youth team players beat Sheffield Wednesday 3–0 in the first match after the disaster. The programme for that match showed simply a blank space where each United player's name should have been.
United only won one league game after the crash, causing their title challenge to collapse and push them down to ninth place in the league, but they reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–0 to Bolton Wanderers. Busby resumed managerial duties the following season and eventually built a second generation of Busby Babes, including George Best and Denis Law, that went on to win the European Cup a decade after the disaster in 1968, beating Benfica. Crash survivors Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes were two of the other players who lined up in that team.
On 6 February 2008, the England national football team takes on Switzerland at Wembley Stadium. Before the game, images of the players who lost their lives at Munich will be displayed on big screens, and England players will wear black armbands. Originally, a minute's silence was not to have been observed on the day, due to the Football Association's fears that the silence would not be respected by fans of Manchester United's rivals. However, they then agreed that a minute's silence should be held.
I think it is amazing that after the crash, the team was closse to folding and now, the team is the power that it is now. Truely a tragic moment and one that should be remembered today...
2 comments:
Aye, it was a huge tragedy. It was a horrible accident and a really united the city of manchester (no pun intended).
Even as a Liverpool fan, I still feel it's a great loss to our game.
Anytime a group of talented, young individuals is lost it is a tragic event. This event ranks right up there with the Israeli Olympic Team, the Marshall Thundering Herd, and the college baseball team from Ohio that died in the bus crash a couple years ago.
Nice post.
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