The Munich air disaster of 1958 claimed 23 lives with players, club officials and journalists all perishing as a result of the tragic crash. But there were also 20 survivors, all of whom had to come to terms with what they had witnessed that day and deal with the aftermath for the rest of their lives, and none more so than Captain James Thain who was flying the plane on that fateful day
After two aborted efforts to depart the snow-covered airfield in Munich following a routine fuel stop a third attempt would eventually be made as Manchester United tried to get home from their European Cup tie against Red Star Belgrade, but it would prove to be the last.
The BEA Elizabethan aeroplane crashed in appalling weather as the plane failed to reach the required speed to get off the ground and as pilot Ken Rayment and Captain Thain struggled with the controls it smashed into a house and a fuel dump at the end of the runway.
In the aftermath of the tragedy a report submitted by German authorities claimed the crash was a clear case of pilot error and with co-pilot Ken Rayment dead the finger of blame pointed firmly at just one man.
Initially investigators believed that ice on the wing was the primary catalyst for the tragedy, stating that it was the pilot’s responsibility to inspect the wings before take-off. In their eyes because the ice wasn’t washed from the wings, the plane failed to reach the required air-borne speed before arriving at the end of the runway.
The reputation of Thain, a former RAF officer and accomplished commercial pilot, was now in tatters as he was seen as being responsible for an air crash which had not only killed 23 people but all but wiped out one of the greatest football sides ever seen. He was suspended from his job, meaning he could no longer fly aircraft and made a scapegoat for the disaster.
"Dad's world was turned upside down,” his daughter Sebuda told The Mirror in 2008 on the 50th anniversary of the crash. “He lost his job so my mother returned to work as a teacher at the school I attended. My father's torment went on for years.”
Sebuda Thain was only seven at the time of the crash as her family felt the brunt of the angry public reaction following the tragedy which included hate mail and death threats. "I was bullied and tormented at school over dad's involvement with Munich”, she later explained. “It was very upsetting and difficult to avoid. Children can be very cruel."
Captain Thain had always been sure that the ice on the wings didn’t cause the crash and a man of principle and strong beliefs he eventually decided to launch his own investigations into the crash in order to reveal the actual reason behind the crash.
He believed that the real cause of the accident was a drastic reduction of the aircraft’s speed during take-off which dropped drastically from 170 Mph to 100 Mph. Aviation experts agreed with him believing that ice on the wing would not result in such an extreme loss of speed. It was Thain’s belief that the real cause of the accident was an accumulation of slush and ice on the surface of the runway.
Thain’s case gained momentum and also the support of the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson who believed the pilot had been a victim of a huge injustice and his comments would eventually lead to another enquiry following huge media interest.
So, some ten years after the disaster, in 1968, British investigators set out to discover what really happened that fateful afternoon and key to the investigation was a picture taken by a fan as the players boarded the aircraft in Munich.
The black and white image taken after the second failed take-off attempt showed what appeared to be a white area which German investigators at the time claimed to be snow. But after studying a negative of the photo it was decided that this was actually just a reflection of light from the wet surface and not snow at all.
In March 1969, eleven years after the crash, the British Government formally cleared James Thain of any responsibility for the crash announcing that it was slush on the runway, which was the responsibility of the airport rather than ice on the wings that caused the crash. In their conclusion they stated: "Blame for the accident is not to be imputed to Captain Thain."
To this day the German authorities have never accepted the findings of the enquiry, something which would take its toll on the pilot and his family. "Eventually, the British authorities cleared him.” explained his daughter years later. “It brought some relief but he knew the Germans still blamed him and that was not right. My father simply wanted everyone to acknowledge the truth.”
Captain Thain was never able to resume his career and, because he was sacked, was unable to qualify for the pension he was entitled to; eventually working on the family chicken farm to make ends meet in later life.
Thain died aged just 54 in 1975 knowing that many people still blamed him for one of the most well-documented tragedies ever to have taken place, despite actually returning to the wreckage in the aftermath of the crash to try and help survivors trapped inside.
"My father died believing that he was the victim of a great injustice,” explains Ms Thain. “He was bitter and who can blame him? He was an honest man and a fine pilot, and the crash was not his fault. The Munich air disaster not only killed 23 people my father also virtually died in that crash.”
