The 50th anniversary of a plane crash that devastated the Manchester United soccer team has occasioned a wave of nostalgia (UK)
Just about everyone in Britain old enough to remember events of 50 years ago can recall the moment on Feb. 6, 1958, when the baleful news came through.
At 3:04 p.m. that day, on its third attempt to take off from a slushy runway in Munich, the aircraft carrying the Manchester United team home from victory in a European Cup quarterfinal in Yugoslavia crashed through the airfield perimeter fence, broke apart and burned.
Of the 43 aboard, 23 died, including eight members of an extraordinarily gifted soccer team that had brought a rush of excitement to a nation still wearied by World War II and the loss of an empire that had sustained its wealth and power for nearly 200 years.
On Wednesday, the victims were remembered in ceremonies at the long-abandoned Kirchtrudering airport in Munich, before 87,000 spectators at an England soccer match against Switzerland at London’s extravagantly rebuilt Wembley Stadium, and at Old Trafford, Manchester United’s home stadium.
Read entire article at NYT
At 3:04 p.m. that day, on its third attempt to take off from a slushy runway in Munich, the aircraft carrying the Manchester United team home from victory in a European Cup quarterfinal in Yugoslavia crashed through the airfield perimeter fence, broke apart and burned.
Of the 43 aboard, 23 died, including eight members of an extraordinarily gifted soccer team that had brought a rush of excitement to a nation still wearied by World War II and the loss of an empire that had sustained its wealth and power for nearly 200 years.
On Wednesday, the victims were remembered in ceremonies at the long-abandoned Kirchtrudering airport in Munich, before 87,000 spectators at an England soccer match against Switzerland at London’s extravagantly rebuilt Wembley Stadium, and at Old Trafford, Manchester United’s home stadium.