Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
Last night British terrestrial TV showed an interesting drama United, about the 6 February 1958 Munich Air Disaster when eight members of the Manchester United soccer team and 14 other people, including 2 aircrew, lost their lives.
This is a picture of the actual aircraft in happier days:
Airspeed Ambassador G-ALZU of BEA (British European Airways), "Lord Burghley" in their Elizabethan Class. She had been chartered to carry the team, Club officials (notably Manager Matt Busby) and journalists from a European Cup match which they'd just played in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Munich-Reim was a refuelling stop and the aircraft crashed on its third attempted takeoff in snowy conditions, having never left the ground.
The TV drama (on BBC Iplayer if you can get it) was not specifically a reconstruction of the crash, although it seemed well-simulated, including showing how those propliners shook their passengers about on takeoff, accident or no accident.
Seems interesting to reconstruct in (retro) fs9, this being the aircraft (actually G-ALZS William Shakespeare) at that airport (EDDM, though the Cal Classic version is 1961) in nice weather.
Easy takeoff showing view of the airport and city beyond.
In more realistic weather:
In reality slush on the runway appears to have been a major factor, though the conditions were not thought to excessively bad at the time. Icing, presumably on the wings, was also blamed.
Pilot's view of RW25:
The unfortunate Captain Thain, a survivor, was blamed with pilot error 'for not ensuring that the upper wing surfaces were clear of ice before taxiing out'. He was not finally exonerated of blame until a 1968 inquiry which took drag caused by the slush into account. None of this was shown in the TV drama which showed the accident from the point-of-view of passenger Bobby Charlton.
This 1954 plan is interesting, showing how wide the aircraft was for the time; it's also remarkably low. G-ALZU 'ran off the runway and went through the boundary fence. After crossing a small road it struck a house and a tree, skidding for a further 100 yards before hitting a wooden garage containing a truck. The garage burst into flames and the forward section of the aircraft slid for a further 70 yards before finally coming to rest.' (Charles Woodley, History of British European Airways 1946-1974).
Of course it is easier in fs9:
I thought it was a very good play which, without being a real documentary, raised several dramatic issues and showed how different that time, over half a century ago, was from today.
One thing it might have reminded the modern audience of was the dignity in grief of our grandparents' generation. Nobody felt obliged to leave piles of useless flowers outside United's Old Trafford stadium - as no doubt they would in our touchy-feely 'Look at me, I'm upset' era. They were better, braver people who went through a lot of suffering in an admirable way which we might do well to emulate.
If such a thing is possible, I would like to dedicate this thread to the 24 souls that were lost on 6 February 1958, and also to the memory of Captain Thain.
This is a picture of the actual aircraft in happier days:
Airspeed Ambassador G-ALZU of BEA (British European Airways), "Lord Burghley" in their Elizabethan Class. She had been chartered to carry the team, Club officials (notably Manager Matt Busby) and journalists from a European Cup match which they'd just played in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Munich-Reim was a refuelling stop and the aircraft crashed on its third attempted takeoff in snowy conditions, having never left the ground.
The TV drama (on BBC Iplayer if you can get it) was not specifically a reconstruction of the crash, although it seemed well-simulated, including showing how those propliners shook their passengers about on takeoff, accident or no accident.
Seems interesting to reconstruct in (retro) fs9, this being the aircraft (actually G-ALZS William Shakespeare) at that airport (EDDM, though the Cal Classic version is 1961) in nice weather.
Easy takeoff showing view of the airport and city beyond.
In more realistic weather:
In reality slush on the runway appears to have been a major factor, though the conditions were not thought to excessively bad at the time. Icing, presumably on the wings, was also blamed.
Pilot's view of RW25:
The unfortunate Captain Thain, a survivor, was blamed with pilot error 'for not ensuring that the upper wing surfaces were clear of ice before taxiing out'. He was not finally exonerated of blame until a 1968 inquiry which took drag caused by the slush into account. None of this was shown in the TV drama which showed the accident from the point-of-view of passenger Bobby Charlton.
This 1954 plan is interesting, showing how wide the aircraft was for the time; it's also remarkably low. G-ALZU 'ran off the runway and went through the boundary fence. After crossing a small road it struck a house and a tree, skidding for a further 100 yards before hitting a wooden garage containing a truck. The garage burst into flames and the forward section of the aircraft slid for a further 70 yards before finally coming to rest.' (Charles Woodley, History of British European Airways 1946-1974).
Of course it is easier in fs9:
I thought it was a very good play which, without being a real documentary, raised several dramatic issues and showed how different that time, over half a century ago, was from today.
One thing it might have reminded the modern audience of was the dignity in grief of our grandparents' generation. Nobody felt obliged to leave piles of useless flowers outside United's Old Trafford stadium - as no doubt they would in our touchy-feely 'Look at me, I'm upset' era. They were better, braver people who went through a lot of suffering in an admirable way which we might do well to emulate.
If such a thing is possible, I would like to dedicate this thread to the 24 souls that were lost on 6 February 1958, and also to the memory of Captain Thain.
