What would become known as the “Munich Air Disaster,” a plane crashed after trying to refuel in Munich, Germany on February 6, 1958. This tragedy ultimately took the lives of 23 people.
Eight of them were Manchester United Players and three of them were officials of the game. This is the story of the Busby Babes and the Munich Air Disaster of 1958.
Refuel In Munich
Busby’s team had just played a match in Yugoslavia, which is now Serbia, against Red Star Belgrade. The plane they were in to fly back to England was not capable of a nonstop flight of that distance and so stopped in Munich to refuel. There were 44 people on the plane, consisting of players, team staff, journalists, photographers, and the flight crew.
The plane was an airspeed ambassador being flown by experienced former RAF pilots. After taking on fuel, the plane attempted to take off, but the pilot noticed an issue with one of the engines aborted the takeoff, and returned to the hangar.
He mentioned that the engine was making a strange noise and A pressure gauge fluctuated. A quick adjustment was made, and a second attempt to take off happened three minutes later.
This attempt was also aborted, and once again the plane returned to the hangar. The team deboarded and went to the terminal while the engines were looked at. It started to snow too, and there were thoughts that the trip back home would be delayed until the following day.
That was the suggestion of one of the Munich mechanics to keep the plane for the night and tune the engines. But the pilot was anxious to stay on schedule and figured just a different taxiing tactic was all that was needed. A, slower speed initially, then a slower increase in the throttle on a long Runway would give him the time to build up the speed necessary to take off.
Fifteen minutes after the team had gotten off the plane, they were called back. The plane lined up on the Runway and accelerated slowly. Once it reached 134mph, it passed the point of no return and takeoff could not be aborted. But 134 was not fast enough to get it airborne. But as the pilots gave it more throttle, the speed dropped to 120 miles per hour.
Munich Air Disaster Realized
Instead of increasing, they could not achieve lift and it was too late to stop it. The plane skidded off the Runway, crashed through a fence, hitting a house, a tree, and a barn full of tires and a fuel truck, causing a fire to erupt.
Twenty people died at the scene, including eight players, three staff members, and eight journalists, along with one of the flight crew. One person died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, and two others died days later due to their injuries. The crash was initially blamed on pilot error, but after an investigation, slush on the end of the Runway caused the plane to slow, unexpectedly preventing takeoff.
Two players who survived the crash were so badly injured they never played football again. Two of the survivors that day were Busby and Bobby Charlton. While keeping the memory of those who died that day alive by recounting their stories, they helped rebuild a club that had been decimated by the Munich air disaster.
It took another decade, but Manchester United was able to lift the European Cup in 1968 after a 41 win over Benfica, with Charlton scoring twice. And while the team celebrated the victory, Charlton remembered those who were lost on this day in 1958.
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