Munich air disaster

The Munich air disaster occurred on February 6, 1958, when Flight BE609, a British European Airways "Elizabethan" class Airspeed Ambassador charter aircraft G-ALZU 'Lord Burghley', carrying players and backroom staff of Manchester United F.C., plus a number of journalists and supporters, crashed in a blizzard on its third attempt to take off from Munich-Riem airport.

Background

The European Cup had been contested since 1955, although no English club took part in the very first tournament on account of Football League rules. Manchester United entered the 1956-57 tournament and reached the semi-finals, being knocked out by eventual winners Real Madrid; they were thus one of the favourites for the 1957-58 tournament. Domestic league matches were played on Saturdays and European matches were played in midweek, so although air travel was risky at the time, it was the only practical choice if United were to fulfil their league fixtures.{{ref|legend39}} Their team was known as the Busby Babes, a reference to their manager Matt Busby and to the average age of the players, which was unusually young.

Related Topics:
European Cup - 1955 - Football League - Real Madrid - Busby Babes - Matt Busby

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The club had chartered an aeroplane to fly them home from their European Cup match against the Yugoslavian team Red Star Belgrade, which ended in a 3-3 draw (United won the tie 5-4 on aggregate). The take off from Belgrade was delayed for an hour as the United player Johnny Berry had lost his passport,{{ref|legend46}} then the plane made a scheduled stop in Munich to refuel.

Related Topics:
Yugoslavia - Red Star Belgrade - Johnny Berry

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~