British Disasters, Munich

February 1958 The popular Manchester United team, nicknamed the “Busby Babes” for their youth and their manager Matt Busby, boarded a plane in Munich to return to England. Also aboard the plane were a number of supporters and journalists.

The weather was snowy and, due to a build up of slush on the runway, the plane crashed on its third attempt at takeoff. 23 people died in total; eight of the football team were killed and two were so severely injured they never played again.

 

 

An investigation by the West German airport authorities originally blamed Captain Thain for the crash, claiming that he had failed to de-ice the wings of the aircraft, despite statements to the contrary from eyewitnesses. It was later established that the crash had, in fact, been caused by the build-up of slush on the runway, which had resulted in the aircraft being unable to achieve take-off velocity; Thain's name was eventually cleared in 1968, ten years after the incident.