Munich Air Disaster

old man emu · February 7, 2023

64 years ago, on February 6, 1958, British European Airways flight 609, a charter flight bound for Manchester carrying 44 passengers, crashed on takeoff from Munich Airport. Just before 15:00hrs, the passengers boarded the aircraft and the crew received takeoff clearance. The plane accelerated and reached 117kts (V1, the speed at which it is no longer safe to abort the takeoff) and soon reached 119kts, at which point the speed stopped rising and then began to decrease. Moments later, the aircraft ran off the end of the runway, crashing through the perimeter fence and skidding into a house, which tore off the left wing. In the cabin, Harry Greg, the team’s goalkeeper, managed to save some of the passengers, including Bobby Charlton.

20 people died in the crash, and three died later in hospital from their injuries. Eight Manchester United players were killed on that day in 1958, along with club staff and journalists who were following the team. Some of the world’s greatest football players were killed. Manchester United Football Club lost eight star players and would take years to reform.

The club finally realized its European dream when in 1968, 10 years after that tragic day, survivor and manager, Matt Busby took the team to Wembley and won the European Cup final

facthunter · February 7, 2023

What type of Plane was that OME. A Merlin engined DC4? An icing related accident? Nev

old man emu · February 7, 2023

No, an Airspeed Ambassador. I came across the above story while I was looking for stuff about the Ambassador, which was also known as the Elizabethan (probably in honour of Elizabeth II). Butler Air Transport imported three, but while they were OK for the job, there were problems with landing grounds - pavement strength issues. They allowed Butlers to fly into Melbourne and Adelaide which brought them into conflict with Reg Ansett.

Finally they were outdone by the Vickers Viscount which ran turbo-props and were a bit faster. Butler sold them back to England.

The initial investigation of the Munich Tragedy put the blame on the pilot for trying to take off with ice-covered wings, but that was eventually shown to be a false accusation. It seems that the engines failed to deliver climb power after rotation and after V1 so there was no stopping the plane for an aborted takeoff. It might not have been so bad had it not hit a fuel shed as it was sliding along the ground.

ELIZABETHAN IN AUSTRALIAN SKIES .pdf

Jerry_Atrick · February 7, 2023

Did Bobby Charlton go on to Captain England's only world Cup win?

old man emu · February 7, 2023

Sir Bobby is considered as one of the best midfielders of all time and won a World Cup with England as well as the Ballon d'Or in 1966. Sir Bobby played in four World Cups (1958, 1962, 1966, 1970). Bobby Moore was Captain in 1966.

willedoo · February 8, 2023

A similar thing happened in Russia a few years ago when a Yak-42 ran off the end of the runway and wiped out one of their top ice hockey teams. There was a conflict of interest between the co-pilot (with barbiturates in his system) trying to abort, and the pilot (with much vodka in his system) trying to take off. According to the CVR, the last thing the co-pilot said to the captain was "F*** you!" A bit of dodgy paperwork involved as well; it turned out neither were qualified on the Yak-42. Just another day in Russian aviation.