Editing Munich air disaster (section)

==Accident==
Thain had flown the "Elizabethan"-class Airspeed Ambassador, registration G-ALZU, to Belgrade but handed the controls to Rayment for the return.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=79}} At 14:19 GMT, the [[control tower]] at Munich was told the plane was ready to take off and gave clearance for take-off, expiring at 14:31.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=97}} Rayment abandoned the take-off after Thain noticed the [[port and starboard|port]] [[Supercharger|boost pressure]] gauge fluctuating as the plane reached full power, and the engine sounded odd while accelerating.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=98}} A second attempt was made three minutes later, but called off 40 seconds into the attempt{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|pp=99–100}} because the engines were running on an overrich [[Carburettor|mixture]], causing them to overaccelerate, a common problem for the "Elizabethan".{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=98}}

After the second failure, passengers retreated to the airport lounge.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=101}} By then, it had started to snow heavily, and it looked unlikely that the plane would be making the return journey that day. Half-back [[Duncan Edwards]] sent a telegram to his landlady in Manchester, reading: "All flights cancelled, flying tomorrow. Duncan."{{Sfn|Barnes|Bostock|Butler|Ferguson|2001|p=16}}

Thain told the station engineer, Bill Black, about the problem with the boost surging in the port engine. Black suggested that since opening the throttle more slowly had not worked, the only option was to hold the plane overnight for retuning. Thain was anxious to stay on schedule and suggested that opening the throttle even more slowly would suffice. This would mean that the plane would not achieve take-off velocity until further down the runway, but with the [[runway]] almost {{convert|2|km|mi}} long, he believed this would not be a problem. The passengers were called back to the plane 15 minutes after leaving it.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=103}}

A few of the players were not confident fliers, particularly [[Billy Whelan]], who said, "This may be death, but I'm ready". Others, including Edwards, [[Tommy Taylor]], [[Mark Jones (footballer, born 1933)|Mark Jones]], [[Eddie Colman]] and journalist [[Frank Swift]], moved to the back of the plane, believing it safer.{{Sfn|White|2008|p=119}} Once everyone was on board, Thain and Rayment got the plane moving again at 14:56.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=107}} At 14:59, they reached the runway holding point, where they received clearance to line up ready for take-off.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|pp=107–108}} On the runway, they made final cockpit checks. At 15:02, they were told their take-off clearance would expire at 15:04.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=108}} The pilots agreed to attempt take-off, but that they would watch the instruments for surging in the engines. At 15:03, they told the control tower of their decision.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=108}}

[[File:1958-02-10 Britain Mourns. Soccer Champs Die In Plane Crash - small unedited.ogv|thumb|American newsreel footage reporting the crash]]
Rayment moved the throttle forward slowly and released the brakes. The plane began to accelerate, and radio officer Bill Rodgers radioed the control tower with the message "Zulu Uniform rolling".{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=109}} The plane threw up [[slush]] as it gathered speed, and Thain called out the plane's velocity in 10-knot increments.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=109}} At {{convert|85|kn|km/h}}, the port engine began to surge again, and he pulled back marginally on the port throttle, before pushing it forward again.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=109}}

Once the plane reached {{convert|117|kn|km/h}}, he announced "[[V speeds#V1|V1]]", at which it was no longer safe to abort take-off, and Rayment listened for the call of "[[V speeds#V2|V2]]" ({{convert|119|kn|km/h}}), the minimum required to get off the ground.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|pp=109–110}} Thain expected the speed to rise, but it fluctuated around {{convert|117|kn|km/h}} before suddenly dropping to {{convert|112|kn|km/h}}, and then {{convert|105|kn|km/h}}.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=110}} Rayment shouted, "Christ, we won't make it!",{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=110}} as Thain looked up to see what lay ahead.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=112}}

The plane skidded off the end of the runway, crashed into the fence surrounding the airport, and across a road. Its port wing was torn off as it caught a house, home to a family of six.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|pp=112–113}} The father and eldest daughter were away, and the mother and the other three children escaped as the house caught fire.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=113}} Part of the plane's tail was torn off, before the left side of the cockpit hit a tree.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=113}} The right side of the fuselage hit a wooden hut, inside of which was a truck filled with tyres and fuel, which exploded.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Munich air disaster: a timeline |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2008/01/17/060208_munich_timeline_feature.shtml |publisher=BBC Manchester |date=19 March 2008 |access-date=12 October 2008 }}</ref> 

On seeing flames around the cockpit, Thain feared that the aircraft would explode, and told his crew to evacuate the area. The [[stewardess]]es, Rosemary Cheverton and Margaret Bellis, were the first to leave through a blown-out emergency window in the [[galley (kitchen)|galley]], followed by radio officer Rodgers.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=115}} Rayment was trapped in his seat by the crumpled fuselage and told Thain to go without him. Thain clambered out of the galley window.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=115}} On reaching the ground, he saw flames growing under the starboard wing, which held {{convert|500|impgal|L}} of fuel. He shouted to his crew to get away and climbed back into the aircraft to retrieve two handheld fire extinguishers, stopping to tell Rayment he would be back when the fires had been dealt with.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=115}}

Meanwhile, in the cabin, [[goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]] [[Harry Gregg]] was regaining consciousness, thinking that he was dead.{{Sfn|Morrin|2007|p=116}} He felt blood on his face and "didn't dare put [his] hand up. [He] thought the top of [his] head had been taken off, like a hard boiled egg."{{Sfn|White|2008|p=118}} Just above him, light shone into the cabin, so Gregg kicked the hole wide enough for him to escape. He managed to save some passengers, among them teammates Bobby Charlton and Dennis Viollet, who were strapped into their seats away from the wreckage.<ref name="itimes">{{Cite news|last=Walker|first=Michael|title=Bravery and goodness: Harry Gregg, the reluctant hero of Munich|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/english-soccer/bravery-and-goodness-harry-gregg-the-reluctant-hero-of-munich-1.3378025|access-date=2020-07-21|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref>