109-698: The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich , West Germany . The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the " Busby Babes ", along with supporters and journalists. There were 44 people on board, 20 of whom died at the scene. The injured, some unconscious, were taken to Munich's Rechts der Isar Hospital , where three more died, resulting in 23 fatalities, with 21 survivors. The Manchester United team were returning from
218-534: A European Cup match in Belgrade , Yugoslavia (now Serbia ), having eliminated Red Star Belgrade to advance to the semi-finals of the competition. The flight stopped to refuel in Munich, because a non-stop flight from Belgrade to Manchester was beyond the range of the "Elizabethan"-class Airspeed Ambassador . After refuelling, pilots James Thain and Kenneth Rayment twice abandoned take-off because of boost surging in
327-574: A Scottish Aviation DC-3 conversion featuring British instrumentation and an increased seating capacity of 32. In addition to having 38 DC-3s converted to Pionair passenger carriers, BEA had a further 10 DC-3s modified as "Leopard" class freighters. The same year, BEA introduced its first tourist class on Viking services. This entailed re-configuring a total of 49 aircraft in a 36-seat, single class layout. BEA referred to its re-configured, all-tourist class Vikings as "Admiral" class [aircraft]. In 1952, BEA carried its one-millionth passenger and introduced
436-709: A Second World War flying ace . After joining the RAF in 1940, he was promoted to sergeant in September 1941. He was commissioned as a war substantive pilot officer a year later, and promoted to war substantive flying officer in May 1943. He shot down five German fighters, one Italian plane and a V-1 flying bomb . He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in July 1943, and promoted to flight lieutenant in September 1943. After leaving
545-493: A legal monopoly as the sole short-haul scheduled British airline. Due to BEA's inability to take over the UK domestic flights of independent scheduled operators such as Railway Air Services , Allied Airways (Gandar Dower) and British Channel Islands Airways on 1 August, these independents continued to ply their scheduled routes under contract to BEA until they were absorbed into the corporation in 1947. The first flight operated by
654-477: A 21-year-old from Barnsley in 1953. Johnny Berry had already been at the club for two years when Taylor arrived. Other notable "Busby Babes" include full-back Bill Foulkes , wingers Kenny Morgans and Albert Scanlon , forward Dennis Viollet , wing-half Wilf McGuinness , who later became manager of Manchester United, and forwards John Doherty , Colin Webster and Eddie Lewis . McGuinness and Webster were not on
763-574: A 33⅓% minority shareholding in Welsh independent regional airline Cambrian Airways. In March 1958, BEA ordered six de Havilland DH106 Comet 4B jet aircraft for delivery from 1960. This was BEA's answer to the impending introduction of the Sud-Est Caravelle , Air France 's new short-/medium- range jet , on the French flag carrier's European , North African and Middle Eastern network, including
872-490: A British player to take that spot in the team. Madrid instead raised funds and organized charity friendly matches with Manchester. Eventually, Busby built a second generation of Busby Babes, including George Best and Denis Law , that ten years later won the European Cup by beating two-time winners Benfica . Charlton and Foulkes were the only two crash survivors who lined up in that team. A fund for dependents of victims of
981-435: A barn with a parked fuel truck in it, which caught fire and exploded. Fearing the aircraft might explode, Thain began evacuating passengers, while 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 indicating that de-icing was unnecessary. The last inquiry by
1090-474: A common problem for the "Elizabethan". 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. Half-back Duncan Edwards sent a telegram to his landlady in Manchester, reading: "All flights cancelled, flying tomorrow. Duncan." Thain told the station engineer, Bill Black, about
1199-652: A football competition for the champion clubs of UEFA-affiliated nations, the predecessor to the present-day UEFA Champions League, to begin in the 1955–56 season. The English league winners, Chelsea , were denied entry by the Football League 's secretary, Alan Hardaker , who believed not participating was best for English football. The following 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, Harold Hardman , with
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#17330854189971308-563: A heart attack at age 53, in August 1975. Twenty people, including seven of Manchester United's players, died at the scene of the crash. The 21st victim was Frank Swift , a journalist and former goalkeeper who played with Busby at Manchester City ; he died on his way to hospital. Duncan Edwards died from his injuries on 21 February at the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich. The final death toll reached 23 several days later, when co-pilot Rayment died as
1417-509: A launch order from BEA depended on scaling down the original design, in the belief that the Vickers Vanguard high-capacity turboprops it had ordered the year before would remain competitive against jets on trunk routes as a result of lower operating and seat-mile costs. BEA's insistence on building the Trident smaller with less powerful engines and a lower fuel capacity than originally proposed
1526-670: A network of routes within the Channel Islands and expand services between the islands and the UK mainland . In 1953, BEA began receiving the first 16 Viscount 701 turboprops it had ordered in August 1950. The first of these "Discovery" class aircraft entered service with 47 mixed-class seats in April 1953, and the first production aircraft (G-AMAV) went on to win the transport class of the 1953 London to Christchurch, New Zealand, air race , with BEA MD Peter Masefield as team manager and co-pilot . 1953
1635-469: A player at the time of the disaster, retired from playing and took over from Crickmer as club secretary. Another former United goalkeeper, Jack Crompton , took over coaching duties after United chairman Harold Hardman had negotiated with Crompton's then-employers Luton Town for his release. United only won one more league game in the 1957–58 season after the crash, causing their title challenge to collapse and they fell to ninth place. They managed to reach
1744-668: A profit of £2.09 million. On 1 April 1960, BEA began commercial jet operations with its new Comet 4Bs. On that day, the airline commenced jet operations from Heathrow to Athens, Istanbul , Moscow , Munich , Rome and Warsaw with an initial, five-strong Comet fleet. By June, this fleet grew to seven (out of an eventual 18) aircraft, enabling the launch of additional jet services to Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Düsseldorf , Malta , Zürich and Frankfurt . On 27 September 1960, BEA welcomed its 25-millionth passenger. Also in 1960, BEA took delivery of its final two Viscount 701s bringing its total fleet strength of this sub-type to 50. 1960
1853-530: A result of serious head injuries. Johnny Berry and Jackie Blanchflower were both injured so severely that they never played again. Busby was seriously injured and had to stay in hospital for more than two months after the crash, and was given the Last Rites twice. After being discharged from hospital, he went to Switzerland to recuperate in Interlaken . At times, he felt like giving up football entirely, until he
1962-450: A result of the Munich air disaster in February 1958. Jackie Blanchflower , 24 at the time of the crash, and senior player Johnny Berry , 31 at the time of the crash, were injured to such an extent that they never played again. Berry was the senior player in the team by the time of the crash, having been signed from Birmingham City in 1951, by which time he was 25. A few of the players in
2071-456: A separate legal entity on 1 April 1974 when the merger with BOAC to form British Airways (BA) took effect. The name was revived by British Airways from 1991 to 2008 when it changed the name of an existing subsidiary, British Airways Tour Operations Limited to British European Airways Limited . British Airways Tour Operations Limited was itself founded in 1935 as an air travel company, named Silver Wing Surface Arrangements Limited . With
2180-466: A stone trough filled with flowers. The trough bears a plaque with the inscription: "Im Gedenken an die Opfer der Flugzeugkatastrophe am 6.2.1958 unter denen sich auch ein Teil der Fußballmannschaft von Manchester United befand, sowie allen Verkehrstoten der Gemeinde Trudering" ( In memory of the victims of the air disaster of 6 February 1958 including members of the football team of Manchester United as well as all
2289-419: A wooden hut, inside of which was a truck filled with tyres and fuel, which exploded. On seeing flames around the cockpit, Thain feared that the aircraft would explode, and told his crew to evacuate the area. The stewardesses , Rosemary Cheverton and Margaret Bellis, were the first to leave through a blown-out emergency window in the galley , followed by radio officer Rodgers. Rayment was trapped in his seat by
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#17330854189972398-692: The Associated Airways Joint Committee (AAJC), which had been formed of several pre-war charter companies on 27 June 1940. BOAC formed a British European Airways division on 1 January 1946 in anticipation of that year's Civil Aviation Act. Following its formation, BOAC's new division began taking over Transport Command's operations from 4 March 1946. On that day, it inaugurated a weekly Dakota service from Northolt to Madrid and Gibraltar , followed by additional Dakota services to Stavanger and Oslo , Copenhagen , as well as Athens via Marseille and Rome . On each of these flights, half of
2507-656: The Attlee government lifted wartime restrictions on civil flying in the United Kingdom. Within Europe, this resulted in BOAC resuming Imperial Airways ' pre- war routes to continental Europe augmented by Royal Air Force Transport Command non-military flights from Croydon Airport , using Douglas Dakotas in RAF livery flown by crews in RAF uniforms, and UK domestic air services operated by
2616-1029: The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man . BEA also operated a network of internal German routes between West Berlin and West Germany as part of the Cold War agreements regulating air travel within Germany. The company slogan was Number One in Europe. Formed as the British European Airways division of British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) on 1 January 1946, BEA became a crown corporation in its own right on 1 August 1946. Operations commenced from Croydon and Northolt airports, with DH89A Dragon Rapides and Douglas DC-3s . Having established its main operating base at Northolt, BEA operated its first service from Heathrow in April 1950; by late 1954, all Northolt operations had moved to Heathrow, which remained
2725-532: 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. Despite this conclusion, German airport authorities took legal action against Thain, as the one pilot who had survived the crash. They claimed he had taken off without clearing the wings of ice , which caused the crash, despite several witnesses stating that no ice had been seen. De-icing
2834-505: The jet age in 1960 with de Havilland 's DH106 Comet 4B . On 1 April 1964, it became the first to operate the DH121 Trident ; on 10 June 1965, a BEA Trident 1C performed the world's first automatic landing during a scheduled commercial air service. For most of its existence, BEA was headquartered at BEAline House in Ruislip , London Borough of Hillingdon . BEA ceased to exist as
2943-403: The runway almost 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long, he believed this would not be a problem. The passengers were called back to the plane 15 minutes after leaving it. A few of the players were not confident fliers, particularly Billy Whelan , who said, "This may be death, but I'm ready". Others, including Edwards, Tommy Taylor , Mark Jones , Eddie Colman and journalist Frank Swift , moved to
3052-599: The 1959–60 season and never returned to the first team. He stayed with the club as a member of the coaching staff, and spent 18 months as United's manager after the retirement of Sir Matt Busby in May 1969. Injury ended the career of John Doherty, who played his last game for Leicester City less than a year after United sold him to the East Midlands club. Sammy McIlroy was born in Belfast and moved to Manchester United in 1969, making him Matt Busby's final signing, and "the last of
3161-525: The 1960s, licences to operate rival international scheduled services on several trunk routes from London Heathrow and Gatwick respectively, these airlines were unable to use them without actual traffic rights. For example, lack of traffic rights prevented BUA from running direct London (Gatwick) – Paris (Le Bourget) scheduled flights although it held a licence for that route, which the ATLB had awarded it in late 1961. In that case, BUA's failure to obtain traffic rights
3270-411: The ATLB that there were sufficient passengers to justify the proposed scheduled services, that these stood a reasonable chance of becoming profitable and that they opened up new markets rather than divert traffic from the corporations to overcome the latter's objections. Although the ATLB granted British Eagle and British United Airways (BUA), BEA's and BOAC's two biggest independent competitors during
3379-601: The Chinese CAAC Airlines ), only the "Big Four" US airlines – American Airlines, United Airlines, Pan Am and TWA – carried more. By that time, BEA served most major European cities, with the network stretching as far east as Moscow, Kuwait and Doha as well as North Africa to the south, and it was furthermore a founder/minority shareholder of Alitalia , Aer Lingus , Cyprus Airways, Gibraltar Airways and Jersey Airlines. In 1961, BEA placed an order for three Armstrong Whitworth Argosy all-cargo aircraft. These were
Munich air disaster - Misplaced Pages Continue
3488-598: The Dakota's 16 seats were reserved for UK government officials. Initially, crews continued to wear BOAC uniforms. Although some services still used Croydon for some time, the main operating base moved to RAF Northolt . On 1 August 1946, the Civil Aviation Act 1946 was given Royal Assent and passed into law. This established BEA as a crown corporation in its own right (British European Airways Corporation ) and transferred primary responsibility for scheduled air services from
3597-466: The Ground Committee and attached to the southeast corner of the stadium, with the date "6 Feb 1958" at the top of both faces and "Munich" at the bottom. The clock has remained in the same position since it was first installed. The clock was unveiled on 25 February 1960 by Dan Marsden, the chairman of the Ground Committee. When the stadium was renovated in the mid-1970s, the plaque had to be moved from
3706-532: The London terminal for all international flights. Although it continued to use Northolt as a London terminal for domestic flights serving Manchester, Edinburgh, Renfrew (Glasgow) , Aberdeen , Belfast and the Channel Islands which by that time were mainly operated by 36-seater "Admiral" class Vikings, these were wound down in favour of concentrating all of BEA's London flights at Heathrow. A Jersey-bound Pionair in October 1954
3815-411: The Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958". Underneath is a plaque expressing United's gratitude to the municipality of Munich and its people. The new memorial was funded by Manchester United themselves and the unveiling was attended by club officials, including chief executive David Gill , manager Sir Alex Ferguson and director Sir Bobby Charlton, a survivor of the disaster himself. On 24 April 2008,
3924-582: The Munich city council decided to name the site where the memorial stone is placed "Manchesterplatz" ( Manchester Square ). On the 57th anniversary of the crash, 6 February 2015, Charlton and FC Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge opened a new museum exhibit commemorating the disaster at the German club's stadium, the Allianz Arena . There is a small display of artefacts at the Majestic Hotel, where
4033-449: The RAF in 1945, he joined British Overseas Airways Corporation in Cairo, before joining BEA in 1947. He had had experience with Vikings , Dakotas and the Ambassador "Elizabethan" class. Thain had flown the "Elizabethan"-class Airspeed Ambassador, registration G-ALZU, to Belgrade but handed the controls to Rayment for the return. At 14:19 GMT, the control tower at Munich was told the plane
4142-681: The U.K. Board of Trade, released in 1969, found that the crash was caused by snow slush on the runway that slowed the plane too much to allow takeoff, and that Captain Thain was not to blame. United were aiming to become the third club to win three successive Football League titles. They were six points behind league leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers , with 14 games still to play. They held the FA Charity Shield and had just advanced into their second successive European Cup semi-finals. The team had not been beaten for 11 matches. The crash not only derailed
4251-664: The UK to Europe (including the British Isles) to BEA. To fulfill its role as the new short- and medium-haul British flag carrier , BEA was organised into two divisions based at Northolt and Liverpool Speke respectively, with the former responsible for all scheduled services to the Continent and the latter for all scheduled services within the British Isles. The Civil Aviation Act 1946 furthermore provided for nationalisation of private, independent British scheduled airlines and gave BEA
4360-584: The Viscount 630 prototype on the London–Paris and London–Edinburgh routes, BEA ordered 20 Viscount 701s in August 1950 for delivery from 1953. Also in 1950, BEA informed Vickers of its requirement for an aircraft with 10% lower costs per seat-mile than the 800 series Viscount . This provided the impetus for Vickers to begin developing the four-engined Vanguard high-capacity turboprop in 1953. Peter Masefield's arrival as managing director (MD) in 1950 marked
4469-486: The aircraft was the captain's responsibility, while the state of the airport's runways was the responsibility of the airport authorities, among whom there was widespread ignorance of the danger of slush on runways for aircraft such as the Ambassador. The basis of the German authorities' case relied on the icy condition of the wings hours after the crash and a photograph of the aircraft (published in several newspapers) taken shortly before take-off, that appeared to show snow on
Munich air disaster - Misplaced Pages Continue
4578-423: The airline's first dedicated freighters; the first aircraft was delivered and entered service later the same year. Busby Babes The "Busby Babes" were the group of footballers , recruited and trained by Manchester United chief scout Joe Armstrong and assistant manager Jimmy Murphy , who progressed from the club's youth team into the first team under the management of the eponymous Matt Busby from
4687-548: The airline's main operating base until the merger with BOAC in 1974. During 1952, BEA carried its millionth passenger, and by the early 1960s it had become the Western world's fifth-biggest passenger-carrying airline and the biggest outside the United States . In 1950, BEA operated the world's first turbine-powered commercial air service with Vickers ' Viscount 630 prototype , from London to Paris . The airline entered
4796-420: The back of the plane, believing it safer. Once everyone was on board, Thain and Rayment got the plane moving again at 14:56. At 14:59, they reached the runway holding point, where they received clearance to line up ready for take-off. On the runway, they made final cockpit checks. At 15:02, they were told their take-off clearance would expire at 15:04. The pilots agreed to attempt take-off, but that they would watch
4905-433: The beginning of BEA's commercialisation. This entailed introduction of new cost control measures and innovative methods to boost revenue and passenger loads , including off-peak fares on late-evening flights and high-frequency services on the London–Paris route. BEA's new commercially aggressive approach soon resulted in monthly earnings of £ 1 million. In early 1951, BEA introduced its first "Pionair" class Douglas DC-3,
5014-472: The cabin, goalkeeper Harry Gregg was regaining consciousness, thinking that he was dead. He felt blood on his face and "didn't dare put [his] hand up. [He] thought the top of [his] head had been taken off, like a hard boiled egg." Just above him, light shone into the cabin, so Gregg kicked the hole wide enough for him to escape. He managed to save some passengers, among them teammates Bobby Charlton and Dennis Viollet, who were strapped into their seats away from
5123-427: The corporations would object to applications by independent airlines seeking to be licensed as competitors to the state airlines. Each application by an independent airline for a scheduled route licence was heard by the newly established Air Transport Licensing Board (ATLB), the new UK government body in charge of air transport economic regulation that succeeded ATAC. At these hearings, the independents needed to convince
5232-544: The crash was established in March 1958, and chaired by the Chairman of the FA, Arthur Drewry . The fund raised £ 52,000 (equivalent to £1.53 million as of 2023) by the time of its disbursement in October 1958. Manchester United announced on 8 January 1963 that legal action against BEA relating to the crash had been settled out of court. Club secretary Les Olive said the amount involved
5341-434: The crumpled fuselage and told Thain to go without him. Thain clambered out of the galley window. On reaching the ground, he saw flames growing under the starboard wing, which held 500 imperial gallons (2,300 L) of fuel. He shouted to his crew to get away and climbed back into the aircraft to retrieve two handheld fire extinguishers, stopping to tell Rayment he would be back when the fires had been dealt with. Meanwhile, in
5450-463: The directors' entrance to allow the necessary changes. The plaque could not be removed without damaging it, so the old memorial was walled up within the Main Stand and a new memorial was made, simpler than the original, now consisting simply of a slate pitch with the names inscribed upon it, and installed in 1976. A third version of the memorial, more like the original than the second in that it included
5559-457: The end of the 1957–58 season. Albert Scanlon was sold to Newcastle United in November 1960. Ray Wood was sold to Huddersfield Town within a year of the Munich crash, having been unable to win back his place in the team from Harry Gregg, leaving Old Trafford around the same time as Colin Webster , who was sold to Swansea Town. Wilf McGuinness suffered a broken leg in a reserve match during
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#17330854189975668-405: The end of the runway, crashed into the fence surrounding the airport, and across a road. Its port wing was torn off as it caught a house, home to a family of six. The father and eldest daughter were away, and the mother and the other three children escaped as the house caught fire. 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
5777-435: The end of the runway, slowing the aircraft and preventing safe flying speed. During take-off, the aircraft had reached 117 knots (217 km/h), but, on entering the slush, dropped to 105 knots (194 km/h), too slow to leave the ground, and with not enough runway 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
5886-453: The favourites to win. Domestic league matches were on Saturdays and European matches midweek, so, although air travel was risky, it was the only choice if United were to fulfil their league fixtures, which they would have to do if they were to avoid proving Hardaker right. After overcoming Shamrock Rovers and Dukla Prague in the preliminary and first round respectively, United were drawn with Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia, now Serbia, for
5995-514: The final of the FA Cup , but lost 2–0 to Bolton Wanderers , and beat Milan at Old Trafford in the European Cup semi-finals, only to lose 4–0 at the San Siro . Real Madrid, who went on to win the trophy for the third year running, suggested that Manchester United be awarded the trophy for that year – a suggestion supported by Red Star Belgrade – but this failed to materialise. After the tragedy, UEFA floated
6104-830: The first 11 of an eventual 83 Vickers Viking piston-engined airliners. These were BEA's first new aircraft, which it leased from the UK government. The first Viking revenue service departed Northolt for Copenhagen on 1 September 1946. Compared with the Dakota, the Viking took 35 minutes less to reach Copenhagen from London. Following their introduction on the London–Copenhagen route, Vikings began replacing Dakotas on BEA's services to Amsterdam, Oslo, Stockholm , Gibraltar and Prague . In November 1946, BEA's first service to Northern Ireland departed Croydon for Belfast ( Sydenham ) via Liverpool , using an ex- Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 52/3m operated by independent airline Railway Air Services on
6213-516: The first independents merged into the new corporation. 1947 was also the year BEA operated its first scheduled all-cargo flight from Northolt to Brussels with a DC-3 freighter. The same year, it inaugurated a scheduled service between Land's End Airport in southwest Cornwall , England , and St Mary's Airport on the largest island of the Isles of Scilly archipelago off the southwest coast of Cornwall, using "Islander" class Dragon Rapides. Despite
6322-492: The first of 20 Airspeed Ambassadors . These cost £3 million and featured a 49-seat mixed-class layout. BEA's first commercial Ambassador service left London for Paris on 13 March 1952. Flights to Milan and Vienna began the following month. These aircraft introduced the airline's passengers to new standards of comfort and speed. Compared with BEA's older piston types, the Ambassador's flight time from London to Milan, for example, reduced by two hours. In June 1952 BEA re-launched
6431-438: The first two airlines to be given associate status by BEA in May 1948. These arrangements enabled the latter to contract the operation of a new feeder route between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare to both of the former, which respectively used Dragon Rapides and Avro Ansons to provide a daily service. East Anglian Flying Services (EAFS) was another early BEA associate. The association agreement between BEA and EAFS resulted in
6540-554: The fledgling corporation's behalf. The following month, BEA's Belfast operations transferred to Nutts Corner while Dakotas replaced the "Jupiter" class Ju 52s from 1947. On 1 February 1947, the process of merging the wholly private, independent airlines operating in the UK under the AAJC umbrella into BEA began. Railway Air Services, Isle of Man Air Services , and Scottish Airways (which had been formed in 1937 by merging Northern & Scottish Airways and Highland Airways ) were among
6649-517: The former. In its 1955–56 financial year, BEA carried more than two million passengers for the first time at an all-time high average load factor of 69.4%. During that period, it recorded a profit of £603,614, mainly as a result of revenue growth accounted for by the Viscount fleet. In 1956, BEA acquired a 25% minority shareholding in Jersey Airlines and the corporation's Southampton – Guernsey and Southampton– Alderney routes transferred to
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#17330854189976758-569: The help of the Football Association 's (FA) chairman Stanley Rous , defied the league and United became the first English team to play in Europe. The team – known as the " Busby Babes " for their youth – reached the semi-finals, beaten there by the eventual winners, Real Madrid . Winning the First Division title again that season meant qualification for the 1957–58 tournament, and their semi-final run in 1956–57 , meant they were one of
6867-414: The idea of Manchester City taking United's place in the European Cup, had United not been able to fulfil their fixtures, but this was rejected by all parties involved, City in particular. Busby resumed managerial duties the next season ( 1958–59 ). Real Madrid offered to loan Alfredo Di Stefano until the end of the 58-59 season for half his wages, but the transfer was blocked by the FA, as it would prevent
6976-413: The independent. 1956 was also the year BEA began using Viscounts for nightfreight operations to increase cargo capacity as well as the aircraft's utilisation. While BEA continued taking delivery of Viscount 701s, it placed its first order for 12 larger 66- to 68-seat Viscount 802/806s . These were delivered from February 1957. By 1958, BEA had 77 Viscounts in service. On 7 February 1958, BEA acquired
7085-441: The instruments for surging in the engines. At 15:03, they told the control tower of their decision. Rayment moved the throttle forward slowly and released the brakes. The plane began to accelerate, and radio officer Bill Rodgers radioed the control tower with the message "Zulu Uniform rolling". The plane threw up slush as it gathered speed, and Thain called out the plane's velocity in 10-knot increments. At 85 knots (157 km/h),
7194-436: The late 1940s and throughout the 1950s. The squad most associated with the name "babes" was that of the 1957–58 season, many of whom died in the 1958 Munich air disaster , and who, with an average age of 22, had been touted to dominate European football for the next few years. The Busby Babes were notable not only for being young and gifted, but for being developed by the club itself, rather than bought from other clubs, which
7303-533: The latter operating a Southend – Rochester feeder service on behalf of the former. 1948 was also the year BEA's reservations department moved to new premises at Dorland Hall, Lower Regent Street in London's West End . BEA made aviation history in 1950 with the world's first turbine-powered commercial air service from London to Paris, using the UK Ministry of Supply -owned Vickers Viscount 630 prototype G-AHRF. By that time, BEA's main operating base at Northolt
7412-516: The launch customer for the Vanguard, Vickers' new high-capacity turboprop powered by four Rolls-Royce RB109 "Tyne" engines. The airline's launch order was for 20 aircraft, including six Vanguard V.951s and 14 heavier V.953s . In mid-1955, BEA entered into a 10-year operating agreement with its associate Cambrian Airways . This resulted in the latter launching new services from Liverpool and Manchester to Jersey (via Bristol and Cardiff) on behalf of
7521-421: The left engine. Fearing they would fall too far behind schedule, Thain rejected an overnight stay in Munich in favour of a third take-off attempt. By that time, snow was falling, causing a layer of slush to form at the end of the runway. After hitting the slush, the aircraft ploughed through a fence beyond the end of the runway, and the left wing was torn off when it struck a house. The tail section broke off and hit
7630-469: The members of the press who died at Munich, which consisted of a bronze plaque that named the eight lost journalists. It was unveiled by crash survivor Frank Taylor on behalf of the Football Writers' Association . The original plaque was stolen in the 1980s and replaced by a replica now behind the counter in the press entrance. The final memorial was the Munich clock, a simple two-faced clock paid for by
7739-401: The newly constituted British European Airways Corporation departed Northolt for Marseille, Rome and Athens on the day of its formation at 8:40 am. This was followed by further route launches to Amsterdam , Brussels and Lisbon . Initially, BEA supplemented its ex-RAF Transport Command Dakotas with Dragon Rapides and Avro Nineteens . Between August and October 1946, BEA took delivery of
7848-444: The only one to sign a permanent contract. The remaining places in the team were filled by reserve players including Shay Brennan and Mark Pearson . United's fierce rivals Liverpool offered them five loan players to help put a side together. There were changes in the backroom staff at United too, following the deaths of secretary Walter Crickmer and coaches Tom Curry and Bert Whalley . Goalkeeper Les Olive , still registered as
7957-460: The original design also reduced seating capacity from 111–130 to 79–90, in mixed- and single-class configuration respectively. ) On 7 November 1959, BEA took delivery of its first Comet 4B (G-APMB), nearly two months ahead of the contracted delivery on 1 January 1960. This was followed by the official handover ceremony of the airline's first jet airliner on 16 November. In its 1959–60 financial year, BEA carried 3.29 million passengers and recorded
8066-472: The outbreak of war in September 1939 all commercial and private flying within the UK had been severely restricted by the government due to the possibility of civil flights encountering enemy aircraft. To offset this halting of civilian air traffic limited aerial services were instead carried out from 1940 onwards by the state-owned and operated British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) to a number of destinations, both European, and worldwide. On 1 January 1946,
8175-461: The plane when it crashed at Munich. Doherty had just been sold to Leicester City . Bobby Charlton , 20 at the time of the crash, retired from playing in 1975. He had left Manchester United two years earlier, and had continued playing as a player-manager of Preston North End . As a player, he set the all-time goalscoring record for Manchester United and England . It was later broken by another United player Wayne Rooney . Charlton's appearance record
8284-402: The players and they drew 3–3 with Birmingham City at St Andrew's three days later. Eager not to miss Football League fixtures, and not to have a difficult trip again, the club chartered a British European Airways (BEA) plane from Manchester to Belgrade, for the away leg against Red Star. The match was drawn 3–3 but it was enough to send United to the semi-finals. The takeoff from Belgrade
8393-650: The port engine began to surge again, and he pulled back marginally on the port throttle, before pushing it forward again. Once the plane reached 117 knots (217 km/h), he announced " V1 ", at which it was no longer safe to abort take-off, and Rayment listened for the call of " V2 " (119 knots (220 km/h)), the minimum required to get off the ground. Thain expected the speed to rise, but it fluctuated around 117 knots (217 km/h) 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
8502-409: The pre-war mid-day Silverwing service pioneered by Imperial Airways on the London–Paris route with 40-seat all- first class Ambassadors. The Ambassador was BEA's last major piston-engined type. It referred to the aircraft as "Elizabethan" class to commemorate the accession of Elizabeth II that year. Also in 1952, BEA made Jersey -based independent airline Jersey Airlines an associate to develop
8611-550: The previous year's nationalisation of several private airlines and their absorption into BEA, the government-owned carrier continued to contract its private sector counterparts to operate a limited number of regional feeder services on its behalf via "associate" agreements. These needed to be approved by the Air Transport Advisory Council (ATAC), the contemporary UK government department in charge of air transport economic regulation. Cambrian and Western Airways were
8720-560: The prime Heathrow – Le Bourget route from July 1959. The arrival at Heathrow on 30 July 1958 of a BEA Elizabethan from Cologne marked the type's last service with the airline. Although its operating costs on short routes such as London–Paris were lower than the Viscount's, the piston type could not match the turboprop's passenger appeal. Unlike the Pionairs and Leopards, which continued serving regional feeder and freight routes, Elizabethans were deployed on trunk routes where passenger appeal
8829-409: The problem with the boost surging in the port engine. Black suggested that since opening the throttle more slowly had not worked, the only option was to hold the plane overnight for retuning. Thain was anxious to stay on schedule and suggested that opening the throttle even more slowly would suffice. This would mean that the plane would not achieve take-off velocity until further down the runway, but with
8938-466: The quarter-finals. After beating them 2–1 at Old Trafford on 14 January 1958, the club was to travel to Yugoslavia for the return leg on 5 February. On the way back from Prague in the previous round, fog over England prevented the team from flying back to Manchester , so they flew to Amsterdam. They took the ferry from the Hook of Holland to Harwich , and then the train to Manchester. The trip took its toll on
9047-428: The stands around the slate pitch and the figures above it, was installed in 1996, coinciding with the erection of the statue of Matt Busby, who had unveiled the original memorial. This third version was constructed by stonemasons Mather and Ellis from Trafford Park, and the second was put into storage. It is currently awaiting new display panels before being placed into the club museum's Munich display. The third plaque and
9156-527: The statue of Busby were originally on the north side of the East Stand, but the statue was moved to the front of the East Stand and the plaque to the south side of the stand after the stand's expansion in 2000. There are also two memorials in Germany. First, in the Munich suburb of Trudering , on the corner of Karotschstraße and Emplstraße, there is a small wooden memorial depicting the Crucifixion , decorated by
9265-409: The surviving players, United were desperate to find replacements with experience, so Murphy signed Ernie Taylor from Blackpool and Stan Crowther from Aston Villa . Three players, Derek Lewin , Bob Hardisty and Warren Bradley , were transferred to United on short-term contracts by non-League club Bishop Auckland . Bradley was the only one of the three players to play for the first team, and
9374-482: The team at this time had been bought from other clubs. One of them, goalkeeper Ray Wood , was just 18 when he joined United from Darlington in 1949. Wood's successor in the first team, Harry Gregg , signed in December 1957 from Doncaster Rovers , as the world's most expensive goalkeeper at the time, for £23,500. Tommy Taylor had been one of the most expensive players in English football when United paid £29,999 for him as
9483-510: The team stayed after the match. These include a menu card signed by 14 of the players, including the eight who were killed, a photograph taken at the meal and a match ticket. The menu card was acquired by the then-British ambassador to Yugoslavia and was auctioned by his son in 2006. Also at the hotel is the piano played by Manchester United's Mark Jones the night before the accident. British European Airways British European Airways ( BEA ), formally British European Airways Corporation ,
9592-518: The team's title ambitions that year but also destroyed the nucleus of what promised to be one of the greatest generations of players in English football history. It took ten years for the club to recover after the tragedy. Busby rebuilt the team and won the European Cup in 1968 with a new generation of "Babes". In April 1955, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) established the European Cup ,
9701-409: The traffic victims from the municipality of Trudering ). On 22 September 2004, a dark blue granite plaque set in a sandstone border was unveiled in the vicinity of the old Munich Airport on the corner of Rappenweg and Emplstraße, just metres from the wooden memorial. With a design in the shape of a football pitch, it reads, in both English and German, "In memory of all those who lost their lives here in
9810-422: The upper wing surfaces. When the original negative was examined, no snow or ice could be seen, the "snow" in the original having been due to the sun reflecting off the wings, which was clarified when examining the negative rather than the published pictures which had been produced from a copy negative. The witnesses were not called to the German inquiry, and proceedings against Thain dragged on until 1969, when he
9919-427: The wreckage. Twenty passengers died at the scene, another died on his way to hospital, and two others died later that month while in the hospital. Manchester United players Manchester United staff Journalists Manchester United players Manchester United staff Journalists and photographers The crash was originally blamed on pilot error , but it was later found to have been caused by slush towards
10028-435: Was BEA's final flight from Northolt. The Viscount's commercial success had made it the leading short-haul aircraft in Europe in the mid-1950s. This led Lord Douglas to believe that turboprops would continue to be the mainstay of BEA's fleet into the 1960s. On 31 March 1955, BEA completed its first profitable financial year, recording an operating profit of £552,314 and a net profit of £63,039. In July 1955, BEA became
10137-571: Was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe , North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The airline was also the largest UK domestic operator, serving major British cities, including London , Manchester , Glasgow , Edinburgh and Belfast , as well as areas of the British Isles such as the Highlands and Islands of Scotland,
10246-483: Was also a manifestation of the cautious attitude of the airline's senior management against a backdrop of a [temporary] reduction in its profit margin and slowdown in its growth rate. Meeting BEA's specifications for the Trident involved reducing the length of the aircraft's fuselage , its wingspan and weight and replacing the Rolls-Royce RB141/3 "Medway" engines with Rolls-Royce RB163 "Speys" . Shrinking
10355-434: Was also the year Flightmaster , BEA's first mechanical reservations system , was installed. This enabled the simultaneous display of seat availability on 32,000 flights. Between February and April 1954, BEA's expanding Viscount fleet replaced Elizabethans between London, Nice and Rome, and on regional routes from Manchester and Birmingham . By that time, BEA had shifted its main operating base to Heathrow, which became
10464-452: Was customary then. The term, coined by Manchester Evening News journalist Tom Jackson in 1951, usually refers to the players who won the league championship in seasons 1955–56 and 1956–57 , with an average age of 21 and 22 respectively. Eight of the players – Roger Byrne (28), Eddie Colman (21), Mark Jones (24), Duncan Edwards (21), Liam Whelan (22), Tommy Taylor (26), David Pegg (22) and Geoff Bent (25) – died in or as
10573-531: Was delayed for an hour after outside right Johnny Berry lost his passport. The plane landed in Munich , West Germany , for refuelling at 13:15 GMT . The aircraft was a six-year-old Airspeed Ambassador 2 , built in 1952 and delivered to BEA the same year. The pilot, Captain James Thain , was a former flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force (RAF). Originally a sergeant , later a warrant officer , he
10682-458: 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 plane from reaching the required take-off speed. Thain, having been dismissed by BEA on February 1961 (on the 3rd Anniversary of the accident) and never re-engaged, retired and returned to run his poultry farm in Berkshire . He died of
10791-531: Was furthermore the year the UK Parliament enacted the Civil Aviation (Licensing) Act 1960 ( 8 & 9 Eliz. 2 . c. 38), which abolished the statutory monopoly BEA and BOAC had enjoyed on principal domestic and international scheduled routes since the beginning of the post-war era. In theory, this gave independent airlines equal opportunities to develop scheduled routes in their own right; however, in reality,
10900-507: Was given an emergency commission in the RAF as an acting pilot officer on probation in April 1944. He was promoted to pilot officer on probation in September 1944. He was promoted to flight lieutenant in May 1948, and received a permanent commission in the same rank in 1952. He retired from the RAF to join BEA. The co-pilot, Captain Kenneth Rayment , was also a former RAF flight lieutenant and
11009-513: Was in Cardiff managing the Wales national team at the time. 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. With seven players dead (Edwards died just over 24 hours later), and with only Gregg and Foulkes fit to play out of
11118-513: Was mainly the result of the French authorities' refusal to grant these without a corresponding reduction in BEA's share of London–Paris flights. In its 1960–61 financial year, BEA carried 3.99 million passengers at an average load factor of 65% and recorded a loss of £1.75 million. By the early 1960s, BEA carried just under four million passengers per year, more than any other airline in Europe (excluding Aeroflot ); worldwide (excluding Aeroflot and
11227-567: Was more important; this further hastened their demise in BEA service. On 12 August 1959, BEA signed a £28 million contract for 24 de Havilland DH121 Trident Mark 1(C) "second-generation" jets plus 12 options, making it the launch customer for the world's first commercial T-tailed rear-engined trijet due to enter service in spring 1964. (This version of the Trident was smaller and lighter than de Havilland's original DH121 of 1956. At that time BEA's chairman, Anthony Milward, had insisted that
11336-413: Was not being disclosed. A BEA statement said: "A settlement has been made and an application will be made to the court on Friday, January 11, to stay proceedings." The first memorials at Old Trafford to the lost players and staff were unveiled on 25 February 1960. The first, a plaque in the shape of the stadium with the image of a green pitch, inscribed with the names of the victims in black and gold glass,
11445-404: Was placed above the entrance to the directors' box. Above the plaque was a teak carving of a player and a supporter, heads bowed either side of a wreath and a football inscribed with the date "1958". The plaque was designed by Manchester architect J. Vipond and constructed by Messrs Jaconello (Manchester) Ltd. at a cost of £2,100, and unveiled by Matt Busby. Also unveiled that day was a memorial to
11554-431: Was ready to take off and gave clearance for take-off, expiring at 14:31. Rayment abandoned the take-off after 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 overrich mixture , causing them to overaccelerate,
11663-407: Was the busiest airport in the UK; however, the airline was losing money, which resulted in replacing former BOAC director, Gerard d'Erlanger, who was BEA's first chairman , with Lord Douglas of Kirtleside , as well as appointing Peter Masefield as its new managing director . In April 1950, BEA operated its first service from London Heathrow Airport . Following the provisional introduction of
11772-465: Was told by his wife, Jean, "You know Matt, the lads would have wanted you to carry on." That statement lifted Busby from his depression , and he returned by land and sea to Manchester, before watching his team play in the 1958 FA Cup Final . Meanwhile, there was speculation that the club would fold, but a threadbare United team completed the 1957–58 season, with Busby's assistant Jimmy Murphy standing in as manager; he had not travelled to Belgrade as he
11881-473: Was unbroken for 35 years after his last game for United. His England record was not broken until 2015, when Rooney scored his 50th England goal. Bill Foulkes, who retired in 1970, was at the club when the European Cup was won in 1968. Harry Gregg left the club in the 1966–67 season , signing for Stoke City , who had signed Dennis Viollet from United five seasons earlier. Kenny Morgans moved to Swansea City in 1961, having rarely played for United after
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