Outside Manchester United’s stadium, Old Trafford, there is a clock that has stopped at 3.04am, which is when the team’s plane crashed in Munich.
The incident happened on February 6, 1958. 23 passengers were killed. Eight were footballers, 8 journalists, a pilot and other members of the team.
The players stayed overnight after a game in Belgrade after being invited to a reception.
The flight was from Belgrade to Manchester via Munich.
The airport runway in Munich was covered in snow. Nevertheless, the aircraft landed normally.
Then the two take-off attempts failed due to noise in the engines. The next takeoff was delayed trying to resolve the supposedly minor technical problem.
Finally on the third attempt the aircraft deviated from its course and crashed into a house with no casualties so far. It continued its frantic course through a residential area until it hit a fuel tank causing a large explosion.
The accident could have been avoided if frost on the runway and better technical control of the aircraft had been taken into account.
[Source: el.wikipedia.org]
