Original subtitles

Out! Everyone, out! Now!

Run, you stupid bastard! It's going to explode!

(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING)

NARRATOR: Munich, 1958.

Twenty-three dead,

including some of the most talented sportsmen on Earth.

We were really big time.

Ready for takeoff.

You could really not expect to have a better crew

flying that Manchester United team.

105, V1.

The crew had not had the wings deiced.

The pilots know what they're doing, boys.

Christ! We're not going to make it!

I thought I was dead.

NARRATOR: Blame for the tragedy would fall on one man.

That is one hell of a burden to take on.

He was devastated by this.

NARRATOR: The effort to clear his name would span more than a decade...

and pit one nation against another in a bitter struggle for the truth

behind one of the worst tragedies in the history of sport.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

MAN: Mayday! Mayday!

(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: February the 6th, 1958.

Munich Airport, West Germany.

A British pilot prepares to bring home an extraordinary group of passengers...

the Manchester United football team.

In the 1950s, they are the most famous sportsmen on the planet.

COMMENTATOR: Everyone in the huge Wembley crowd

from the Queen to the oldest fan is tense with excitement.

Uh, Manchester United is probably the most premier team,

the most famous team this country had ever seen before.

I joined the club in December '57.

NARRATOR: Harry Gregg is the team's star goalkeeper.

We boarded the aircraft,

which was a charter, a charter flight.

We were really big time.

NARRATOR: After playing a key game in Yugoslavia,

the team has advanced to the semifinal of the prestigious European Cup.

MOSS: The aircraft had to stop in Munich because it didn't have sufficient range

to get back to Manchester from Belgrade

without stopping to refuel.

NARRATOR: The 21 players and staff are traveling in style.

They're aboard a British European Airways Airspeed Ambassador.

It's a luxurious twin-engine aircraft

also known as the Elizabethan.

The captain is 36-year-old James Thain.

He's a former RAF pilot with an impeccable service record.

SEBUDA: He was quite a remarkable man.

He was very upright and honorable,

very strong character.

MOSS: The weather had been pretty grim throughout the day.

The snowfall in the morning, um, gave way to a rising temperature

to just above freezing.

NARRATOR: As Captain Thain finishes his preflight inspection,

the young sportsmen settle in for the journey home.

They were notable for the fact that their manager Matt Busby...

I'd like the lads to get a good night's sleep.

...was, uh, picking relatively young players in team

and that's why they were known as the Busby Babes.

COMMENTATOR: The Busby Babes start the second half in cracking form

with that slippery winger...

We were a young and wonderful team,

which I am very proud to have been part of.

I'll give you guys a chance to get your money back

once we're in the air, boys, all right?

(LAUGHTER)

NARRATOR: Traveling with the team

are 11 of the UK's best-known sports journalists,

eager to report on Manchester United's latest success.

Also on board are a few Yugoslavians catching a ride to the UK,

38 passengers in all.

How's she looking out there?

Snow build-up's minimal.

No need to sweep.

Take us home.

Happily.

NARRATOR: 38-year-old co-pilot Kenneth Rayment is a World War II ace.

He is also an Elizabethan captain

and is in fact senior to Thain at the airline.

MORRIN: They were both, um, highly experienced pilots.

You could really not expect to have a better crew

flying that Manchester United team.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

They were great friends and of course they were captains together

and they flew together quite often.

NARRATOR: Rayment and Thain have agreed that on this flight

they will switch seats.

Because Captain Rayment was going to be handling the aircraft

and he would be used to handling the aircraft

from the left hand seat,

that's why he sat in the left hand seat.

Port and starboard fuel cocks on.

Cross feed off.

NARRATOR: It's against company policy,

which states the commander should always sit in the left seat,

but it's a rule that is frequently broken.

Throttles, port and starboard levers one inch open.

Carb air port and starboard ram.

Carb air port and starboard ram.

Ignition boost switches off.

Ignition boost switches off.

(ENGINE REVVING)

Munich, 6-0-9 Zulu Uniform,

I am ready to take off.

B-line 6-0-9, uh, your clearance expires at three-one.

Time now is three-zero.

Cleared for takeoff, right turn out.

Thank you. Rolling.

NARRATOR: In light snow

with the temperature hovering around freezing,

Thain and Rayment start their takeoff run.

(RUMBLING)

(SWOOSHING)

- Full power. - Full power.

I had been reading a book that one of the lads had passed to me.

I was reading that and we started off down the runway

and I looked out the window.

No big deal at all.

Temperatures and pressures okay.

Ninety, one hundred.

NARRATOR: Takeoff speed is 119 knots.

(RUMBLING)

Abandon takeoff.

All of a sudden, I watched the wheels lock and unlock

and the plane started to spin.

We stopped slightly side on.

Sorry about that. Engine fluctuating.

6-0-9, we are abandoning the takeoff.

Tower, please say again.

We are abandoning the takeoff.

May we backtrack? Over.

Engine boosting.

I would think so, yes.

Uh, the problem was a boost surge

and it happened with that particular engine

on that particular aircraft.

It was a Bristol Centaurus engine.

It was prone to doing this,

especially at airports which are at high altitudes

and one of the problems was

that the thrusts sometimes opened too fast.

6-0-9, cleared to backtrack.

NARRATOR: The Elizabethan taxies back to the start of the runway

for a second takeoff attempt.

I trustily can say I was not too perturbed at all.

Another adventure for a young man

and I was not a bad flier at that time.

Munich, 6-0-9 Zulu Uniform.

When we get to the end of the runway

I should like to take off again.

Is the clearance still valid?

6-0-9, your clearance is still valid.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize

but we are heading back to try again.

GREGG: Went back to the beginning,

sat, revved up as one would do.

Revved, revved, and they took the anchors off

and I paid more attention this time.

(ENGINE WHIRRING)

Slightly further along the runway, the same thing happened again.

- (RUMBLING) - Port is off the clock.

And this time it was Thain who actually abandoned that takeoff.

And again, when I thought we were about to lift

I watched the wheels lock and unlock,

lock and unlock.

(TIRE SCREECH)

They got it stopped.

(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)

Munich, 6-0-9 Zulu Uniform,

we are abandoning this takeoff as well.

(SIGHS)

Roger. Cleared to backtrack.

And the pilot came on and said...

CAPTAIN RAYMENT: Sorry for that.

We have a technical fault that we're now looking into.

We're returning to the terminal for further checks.

Nothing to be alarmed about and we hope to have you airborne shortly.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

Don't stray too far, boys.

We had returned to the terminal

and everybody went to the bar.

Bill Black, the station engineer, had seen these two aborted takeoffs

and obviously clattered up the steps, put his head through the cockpit

and said, "Well what's going on? Why haven't you taken off?"

We've been getting a boost surge in the port engine up past 60 last time.

They received an explanation that this was a fairly common phenomenon

when operating the Elizabethan from Munich because of the high altitude,

that it was nothing to worry about and they were given advice

when advancing the throttles if they got the surging

was to just retard the surging engine slightly, reduce power,

and then take it up again to full power more slowly.

MAN: Passengers for BEA 6-0-9, please proceed to the tarmac.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

MORRIN: Within five minutes the passengers had been offloaded and loaded on again

and then there was a surprise to them

'cause they'd had two aborted takeoffs

and now they're asked to go back again.

If one person had said, this is crazy, we're not going...

he would have had a whole lot of followers

but there you are, human nature again,

who's got the moral courage?

But who, who likes to admit to being a coward?

(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: BEA flight 6-0-9 prepares for its third takeoff attempt

from Munich Airport.

The plane carrying the Manchester United Football Club

is drawing attention from inside the terminal.

You've got to remember these are the Busby Babes.

They're laughing and joking all the time,

that sort of thing but now they're quite quiet.

There's a lot of tension there in the air.

GREGG: Little Johnny Berry, he said,

"We're all gonna get freaking killed here,"

and then Whelan said, "Well, if it happens, I'm ready."

At that point, I opened my tie.

Ignition boost switches off.

Ignition boost switches off.

Wings... still look good?

No need to deice.

(ENGINE REVS)

Munich Tower, B-line 6-0-9 Zulu Uniform,

I'm ready to taxi. Over.

B-line 6-0-9,

your clearance void if not airborne by zero-four.

Time now zero-two.

Roger. Understand.

Valid till zero-four.

NARRATOR: Captain Thain has just two minutes

before the window for takeoff closes.

If this third attempt is not successful,

the flight may be canceled

and his famous passengers will be grounded in Munich.

Munich, 6-0-9 Zulu Uniform is ready for takeoff.

Roger.

NARRATOR: The runway is more than 1,900 meters long.

Even with their plan for a gradual acceleration,

the Elizabethan should be able to liftoff just past 1,200 meters.

So for the third time that day,

they actually lined up the aircraft with the center line,

got the permission, the clearance to takeoff.

And they're away.

- Full power. - Full power.

Temperatures and pressures okay.

Port surging slightly.

He experienced a bit of this engine surging,

which he retarded the throttles slightly

and then advanced it again.

Full power again.

Both engines sound an even note.

We're going down the runway now for a takeoff.

Everything seems okay.

The pilots know what they're doing, boys.

I thought there's more people on this plane

more frightened than what I am.

One-oh-five. V1.

NARRATOR: Velocity one is the speed at which a takeoff

cannot safely be abandoned,

the point of no return.

Rayment now is waiting.

He's anticipating now for Thain to call out 119 knots, which is V2.

NARRATOR: At 119 knots, the plane can become airborne.

But something goes wrong.

They suddenly lose speed.

Christ! We're not going to make it!

(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)

There was no screaming. There was no shouting.

There was nothing like that at all.

(RUMBLING)

Darkness and daylight and sparks and thumps and smacks.

You-you just can't describe it.

(CRASHING)

(EXPLOSION)

And then it was just complete and total darkness.

I thought I was dead.

NARRATOR: The Elizabethan has crashed through a fence

hitting a house and a fuel shed 300 meters beyond the end of the runway.

And eventually I got to my senses and I started to crawl uphill

and I got to a hole

in what was left of the aircraft

and I honestly thought I'm the only one alive here...

and then I heard a shout.

Out! Everyone, out! Now!

It's going to explode!

(COUGHS) Out! Everyone...

GREGG: He shouted...

"Run, you stupid bastard. It's going to explode."

Now! The plane could explode!

Come on. Go, go, go, go, go!

- Run, you stupid bastard... - (BABY CRYING)

GREGG: And I heard a child crying.

I shouted, "Come back."

Come back, you bastards! There's people alive in there!

(CRYING CONTINUES)

GREGG: I went back in through the hole I come out of

and I found the little child.

(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)

Went right in the other side and found Matt Busby, the boss.

NARRATOR: Busby's alive, but in shock.

He had a small cut behind his right ear,

I remember, but when I looked down,

his foot was completely reversed round the other way.

Oh, my leg.

GREGG: I jammed some rubbish up behind him

because he didn't look too bad and I left him propped up.

NARRATOR: Harry Gregg pulls out one passenger after another,

both living and dead.

A man must do what a man must do.

NARRATOR: Within minutes of the crash,

help begins to arrive from the airport and nearby farms.

Hey! The co-pilot, he's trapped up there.

Can you help him?

NARRATOR: Two German rescuers climb up on the wing

and free Kenneth Rayment from the wreckage.

He is badly injured.

Twenty-one people are dead.

Seven are Manchester United players.

The head coach, secretary, and trainer are also dead.

Seven more team members are seriously injured.

Manager Matt Busby is in critical condition.

Manchester United,

one of the world's greatest football teams,

is effectively wiped out.

What started out as a wonderful thing...

eh...

sadly went wrong.

(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)

FRED MANESS: Near Munich, a fierce blaze marks the wreck of a British airliner.

In attempting...

MORRIN: We have this, uh, pretty high-profile air disaster here.

The stakes are quite high.

We're not long after the end of the Second World War.

We've got two pilots who are flying the aircraft

who actually flew in the RAF during the war.

Munich obviously as well was...

uh, place where the cradle of the Nazi party,

so you got a British government, you got a German government.

Everybody was gonna tread warily.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: At 10:00 p.m. on February the 6th...

six hours after the crash,

the man assigned to investigate it arrives on the scene.

Hans Reichel was the West German chief accident investigator.

He was quite experienced. He was 57 years of age.

He had flown with the Luftwaffe.

He had flown with Lufthansa National Airline,

so there's doubt he was an actually qualified pilot.

This was the first major international accident

that he had had to deal with.

NARRATOR: In his role as air crash investigator,

Steve Moss is reexamining the evidence from a 21st century perspective.

(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)

He certainly seems to have arrived at Munich

rather underequipped...

(SPEAKING GERMAN)

...to the extent that he had to borrow a news crew's lighting equipment

to commence his examination.

Can I have some light here, please?

MOSS: Of course, uppermost in his mind

was the possibility of ice on the wings

so he went looking for that and sure enough, he found it.

(HANS REICHEL SPEAKING GERMAN)

The wrecked aircraft was covered by a layer of snow

about eight centimeters thick.

(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)

This could be brushed aside with the hand without difficulty.

Under this, there was a layer of ice

frozen firmly onto the surface of the wing.

Here.

NARRATOR: Reichel finds the only surfaces free of ice are near the engines.

He assumes the entire wing was coated in ice before the crash

and that during the takeoff attempt

the propellers blew away the ice behind them.

(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)

The day after the crash,

investigators take a closer look at the scene.

They examine the tire tracks, which extend 50 meters,

and right off the end of the runway.

The information from the ground marks

that the aircraft never got airborne

must have, uh, in Reichel's mind, reinforced this impression

that ice on the wings was responsible.

NEWSCASTER: Manchester, from the moment the news came through,

was a city in mourning.

While millions wait anxiously for news of the seriously injured men,

the hospital staff work day and night to save them.

Matt Busby was their worst problem.

For two days, he lay between life and death

with one of his lungs completely deflated.

Then came the welcome news, Matt was off the danger list.

NARRATOR: Six of the seven injured players also pull through,

but the team loses one of its greatest stars.

Duncan had died.

Duncan died, I think, 10 days.

(SNIFFLES)

Yeah.

NARRATOR: To this day, many regard Duncan Edwards

as the greatest footballer the UK has ever produced.

Co-pilot Kenneth Rayment also dies, having suffered a brain injury.

(RUMBLING)

- Full power. - Full power.

NARRATOR: James Thain is left to face a wall of questions on his own.

Well, you see on the first takeoff,

uh, we weren't completely satisfied with the engines.

Any little bit of information that the press could get,

there was another headline.

It was relentless.

So it must have been very difficult for him.

NARRATOR: Two days after the crash, Reichel interviews Thain.

After the accident, we established that the starboard wing

had a layer of rough ice on it.

The region of the propeller slipstream was free from ice.

When I walked out of the aircraft on the first attempt,

I could see the snow thawing on the wings

and count the ribs of the aircraft.

What do you say was the cause of the accident?

My personal feeling is that there must have been

a large quantity of snow built up at the end of the runway.

(SCOFFS)

Why were you sitting in the right-hand seat?

(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)

People began to speculate even before the inquiry

about the cause of the accident.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: Two months after the crash,

in April 1958,

a German inquiry formally gets underway.

Shall I begin?

MOSS: The German investigation, straight away

it seemed to be into this adversarial role

of somebody being on trial,

um, and having to prove his innocence.

MORRIN: Thain knew straight away that there's something going on here.

He's on the ropes straight away, right?

NARRATOR: Hans Reichel draws on witness testimony of snow on the wings

and Thain's own account that he did not deice.

And this is something that would not go away with Reichel

is ice, ice, ice all the way.

NARRATOR: The temperature the afternoon of the crash

hovered around zero degrees Celsius.

It wasn't cold enough for the snow to create ice.

MORRIN: Thain saw the water actually dripping off the leading edge.

So he knew the snow was actually melting

so obviously that convinced him again

that, uh, it just didn't require deicing.

NARRATOR: But German experts note

that the Elizabethan had just descended from 25,000 feet

where the air temperature was minus 25 degrees Celsius.

They conclude that snow falling on the frozen wings

would have turned instantly to ice.

Thain counters with the testimony...

Deicing on.

NARRATOR: ...that he turned on the wing deicing heaters

on descent to Munich.

That would have made the wings warmer, not colder than the air.

Thain seems to have all the answers,

but what he doesn't know

is that Hans Reichel is about to present a controversial piece of evidence

that will change everything.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: The German government inquiry of the Munich disaster

takes a decisive turn

with the introduction of a casual snapshot.

MOSS: This was potentially a smoking gun

because at first glance looking at the photograph,

it appeared to show a white area,

um, on the top of the wings

which certainly was interpreted as being a layer of snow or ice.

NARRATOR: Every other aircraft that left Munich that day was deiced,

but not the Elizabethan.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

For investigator Hans Reichel,

the crew's failure to deice is the leading cause of the accident.

Apart from this icing, I can find nothing

which might have been a cause for the accident

or to have contributed to it.

NARRATOR: As for the house at the end of the runway...

Clearly, it was an issue because the aircraft struck it.

NARRATOR: ...the impact and explosion did make the accident more deadly.

But German authorities find that according to regulations,

the house was a proper distance from the airport.

Finally, investigators consider whether the engine boosting problem

was a possible cause.

Port is off the clock.

(TIRES SCREECH)

NARRATOR: The theory is quickly dismissed.

MOSS: The boost issue, uh, had nothing to do with the accident.

One of the engines was actually carrying a crude form of flight recorder,

which indicted that during the run,

the engines were certainly delivering enough power

to get the aircraft airborne.

(MAN SPEAKING GERMAN)

NARRATOR: In March 1959,

a year after the tragedy of Munich,

the German government releases its official report.

It lays full blame for the accident

at the feet of Captain James Thain.

Ice.

Ice on the wings, which they say was there before the accident.

Simple.

NARRATOR: The German investigation also suggests

that by agreeing to switch seats...

- Take us home. - Happily.

NARRATOR: ...Captain Thain may have created confusion

over which pilot was in charge.

And they said, "Captain Thain, he's the one responsible

for the deaths of 23 people

and decimating the Manchester United football team."

That is one hell of a burden to take on.

I think in terms of the press,

obviously, they like to have somebody that they can pin something on

and to that extent they saw him as a little bit of a villain.

(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)

He was definitely badly treated.

He was made the scapegoat.

NARRATOR: A year after the crash,

James Thain's reputation is in tatters.

The former RAF officer and accomplished commercial pilot

is now a full-time farmer.

The disaster at Munich haunts him constantly.

SEBUDA: I can remember Mum and Dad sitting up

for all hours of the night talking about this

because Dad was convinced

that there had been some external force

that had affected the takeoff run.

NARRATOR: Thain is certain that ice on the wings

did not cause the crash.

He decides to launch his own investigation.

Dad was a man of great integrity and fortitude

and he was determined that he would make sure

that he found the cause of the accident.

NARRATOR: But in 1959,

there are almost no forensic tools at his disposal.

MOSS: For a start, of course, an aircraft of that size

would have the benefit of a flight data recorder,

a black box flight recorder and a cockpit voice recorder,

and if we could have that information

from the 1958 Munich accident,

there would be absolutely no doubt about the cause.

(RUMBLING)

V1.

NARRATOR: The plane reached 117 knots

but then slowed dramatically.

Ice on the wings can't explain that sudden loss of speed.

But something else can,

something Thain sees as the real cause of the crash...

slush on the runway.

So imagine you're driving on a dry road during the winter

and you suddenly enter an area of slush.

NARRATOR: Canadian Aviation expert Terry Townshend

specializes in the study of runway contamination.

Immediately, you're gonna notice resistance, um,

on the vehicle from the slush

and same thing happens on the aircraft.

NARRATOR: Thain believes other planes didn't have slush problems that day

because they took off on the first two thirds of the runway.

Since the Elizabethan accelerated more slowly

to compensate for the boost pressure problem,

it rolled further into the unused part of the runway with deep slush.

It takes more power to overcome that slush.

NARRATOR: Thain learns that nine years earlier,

a Trans-Canada Airlines plane

failed to take off on a slushy Vancouver runway.

MOSS: They did some research

and found that as little as five centimeters of slush,

uh, could really adversely affect the aircraft's ability

to reach takeoff speed.

NARRATOR: The Canadian government

issued a letter of warning to all airlines:

"Do not attempt takeoff in more than five centimeters of slush."

MOSS: It was sent to BEA

but for some reason best known to themselves,

they did not take any action on it

and filed it away for future reference.

NARRATOR: The German investigators have dismissed slush as a possible cause,

insisting it was ice on the wings.

But through his research,

Captain Thain uncovers a shocking omission.

We quite fortuitously came across a witness

who had made an inspection of the wreckage

immediately after the accident.

(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: Karl-Heinz Seffer was among the first at the scene,

climbing up on the wing to help pull Co-pilot Kenneth Rayment

from the wreckage.

He was later interviewed by investigators.

KARL-HEINZ SEFFER: (IN GERMAN) I climbed down over the right wing.

I noticed no ice on the fuselage or the wing.

I was wearing rubber boots. No ice was present.

Otherwise, I would have slipped.

But when this report was read out

to the first German Commission,

only part of it was read out.

That part which included the evidence

that he couldn't find any ice, was left out.

MORRIN: All this was set up. It was all stage managed.

You know, Thain was gonna be made the scapegoat.

It was gonna be ice on the wing. It wasn't gonna be runway contamination.

NARRATOR: That's in spite of eyewitness accounts

from the air traffic controllers

which also supported the slush theory.

B-line 6-0-9, your clearance expires at three-one.

Time now is...

MOSS: The most crucial eyewitnesses

saw the aircraft start the takeoff run as normal.

About halfway down the runway, they saw the nose lift,

which would be standard procedure

but then unusually...

they saw it go back down onto the runway,

which of course should not happen.

NARRATOR: This crucial eyewitness evidence was also omitted at the inquiry.

It's quite notable that the air traffic controllers

that were called as witnesses were the trainee ones

and that the qualified ones weren't called.

NARRATOR: The only person to testify about slush on the runway

was the Munich Airport manager.

He said he inspected the runway

and found the slush was less than a centimeter deep.

Slush can be difficult to measure

because it, uh, it can vary significantly in height across a runway.

The slush can be one centimeter high in one place

and it can be ten centimeters high in another,

so a number of samples have to be taken

in order to get a reasonable average.

(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: Also in question is Reichel's conclusion

about ice on the wings...

that it must have been there before takeoff

since the only areas without ice were behind the propellers

where it blew off.

A scientific challenge to this view comes from a most unlikely source...

Captain Thain's wife, Ruby.

She was a remarkable lady being, uh, one of the first women

to get a first class honors degree from Bristol

in chemistry, physics and maths.

(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: A trained chemist, Ruby Thain points

to the massive amount of fire-extinguishing chemicals

sprayed on the burning wreckage.

SEBUDA: She thought about this very carefully

and she obtained a sample of fire extinguisher powder

which turned out to be sodium bicarbonate,

which is common baking powder.

So she would go out and sprinkle it on the metal car,

thinking it might simulate an aircraft wing...

and found that if that mixed with snow and water,

that this solution would freeze at a lower temperature

than that that was recorded out at Munich that night.

NARRATOR: Firemen trained their hoses mainly on the engines.

Ruby's experiment could explain why ice did not accumulate in those areas

but did build up on the rest of the wing in the hours after the crash.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

With new eyewitness testimony and compelling scientific evidence,

another side of the story begins to emerge.

If it's ice on the wings, it's the captain's fault. He is to blame.

V1.

Of course, if it's slush on the runway,

uh, then really it's the airport to blame.

(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)

(CRASHES)

NARRATOR: Thain submits the new evidence to the German authorities...

but they refuse to reopen the investigation.

It's nonsense.

NARRATOR: In 1961, BEA officially fires Thain,

primarily for violating the company's policy

against pilots switching seats.

Well, they sacked him, and he was devastated by this,

for something which was effectively a little company regulation

but other people did that as well.

MORRIN: BEA, obviously, if you think about it

did not want a pilot like that on the flight deck.

As you're about to take off,

this is your captain speaking, Captain Thain.

I'm the one responsible for 23 deaths at Munich in 1958,

so no airline wants that.

GREGG: A conviction of convenience.

It didn't matter who they hung out to dry,

and he was hung out to dry.

NARRATOR: The loss of his job makes Thain more determined than ever

to clear his name.

He writes letter after letter to both the British and German governments

urging them to reopen the investigation.

In 1965, those efforts pay off.

(SPEAKING GERMAN)

NARRATOR: German authorities agree to review the investigation

of the Munich disaster.

Initially with the second German inquiry

it was felt that, yes, there could be a glimmer of hope.

NARRATOR: That hope has been stirred by some new research.

NEWSCASTER: ...tests into slush carried out at Bedford.

NARRATOR: Britain's Royal Aircraft Establishment

has conducted slush tests on the Elizabethan aircraft.

MOSS: Basically, they flooded a runway to varying depths

and simulated a takeoff run, uh, using an Ambassador aircraft.

The results of these tests were quite alarming.

NARRATOR: In run after run,

the plane decelerates from 117 to about 105 knots...

the same loss of speed reported by Thain.

CAPTAIN THAIN: We're hoping that when the Germans have considered,

if they consider, all the relevant evidence

we shall get them to reach the conclusion

that the aircraft accident was due to slush on the runway

and not ice on the wings.

NARRATOR: But at the two-day hearing,

Reichel is not swayed by the new evidence.

Instead of clearing Thain, he condemns him further,

saying that by switching seats, the captain actually made things worse.

The differing assessment of the situation by the two pilots

probably increased the severity of the accident.

Christ! We're not going to make it!

(CRASHES)

MOSS: As an investigator these days,

I can see no technical reason

why that should have contributed to the accident.

NARRATOR: The damning findings of the German Review Commission

are a crushing blow to Thain.

The British government knew, the airline knew and Thain certainly knew

he'd been set up but nothing was done.

NARRATOR: But in a strange twist,

he's about to get one last chance,

thanks to Britain's most powerful politician.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

COMMENTATOR: A hundred thousand expectant fans

packed the stands to see great football.

The Busby Babes were raring to go.

NARRATOR: In 1967, Harold Wilson is Prime Minister of the UK.

After attending a Manchester United game,

he makes a comment that sets off a media frenzy.

He says he believes James Thain was a victim of injustice.

It became another headline, "The Fight Goes On."

Harold Wilson, he knew enough

that Thain was innocent and he really took it on.

It was debated in the House of Commons

and then it went ahead

and this was the most thorough inquiry yet.

NARRATOR: In 1968,

British investigators conduct a study

to determine whether slush or wing ice

caused the Munich disaster.

Their findings immediately call into question the accuracy

of the two German reports.

Photographic analysis shows that the white on the wings is not snow.

It was merely light reflecting off a wet surface.

A new picture was taken from the original negative,

which showed clearly the markings on the aircraft

so there couldn't have been ice.

NARRATOR: As well, three separate experts determine

that the amount of ice Reichel found on the wings,

five millimeters, would not have been enough to prevent takeoff.

I don't see how, um, a layer of ice,

even five millimeters thick,

could account for the deceleration of the aircraft.

NARRATOR: Then the British inquiry takes a dramatic turn

when a star witness appears,

Reinhardt Meyer, a pilot who was first on the scene of the crash.

(SPEAKING GERMAN) I walked over and examined the wing

of the wrecked aircraft and observed that there was nothing like frost

or frozen deposit.

It was melting snow only.

It turned out when he was called, uh, to give evidence,

uh, he said, "Well, I spoke to Reichel personally face-to-face

and told him what had happened, that I'd gone to the aircraft.

I'd looked for ice immediately after,

within minutes of the crash and I found no ice,

just melting snow only, and that was it."

So everyone was astonished at this.

NARRATOR: Reichel has no explanation for the glaring omission.

I think he found it very difficult to back down

and say, "Actually, I was wrong."

MORRIN: Slush on the runway

is going to be the German Airport Authority's fault

and they're not going to accept that.

NARRATOR: In March 1969...

Good news.

NARRATOR: ...eleven years after the crash.

Finally.

NARRATOR: ...the British government formally clears James Thain.

Well, of course, my family are very pleased indeed.

SEBUDA: Well, he knew that obviously this was the right findings

and he was very pleased and happy

because in this country, he'd been exonerated.

NARRATOR: But BEA does not give him his job back.

Captain Thain never flies again.

In Germany, Hans Reichel and the aviation authorities

never exonerate him.

I think there was a huge amount of stress

and strain and tension,

and he died a young man.

He was 54.

(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)

At Munich, there were 23 victims and Captain Thain was the 24th.

NARRATOR: Ten years after the accident that killed eight of its players,

Manchester United becomes the first English team

to win the European Cup.

COMMENTATOR: At last Matt Busby, the maestro of Manchester United,

had groomed a team great enough to beat Europe's best.

NARRATOR: A cup they might have won in 1958

if not for an aviation disaster

that devastated the finest team of players Britain had ever assembled.

(CRASHES)

Harry Gregg continued playing for Manchester United until 1967.

Now in his 70s, he dwells only on the fond memories.

GREGG: I don't think about it.

I think about what I was part of.

A team of wonderful, young spirited players,

great journalists, great staff.

Everything was good about it.

NARRATOR: Captain Thain's legacy

is modern aviation's improved understanding

of the deadly effects of slush.

(SWOOSHES)

The problem is tackled now

and I would suggest it was probably a direct result

of, uh, the Munich accident.

Airport authorities approach the problem very, very differently.

By what he did forcing this issue,

he's probably saved countless lives

and prevented more than one Munich in that particular time

so in that sense he's to be admired

for what he did in those 11 years.

SEBUDA: Mom was credited with saying,

"A man with greater integrity I will never know,"

but he also left an inscription for me in a book,

which is, "The difference between the impossible and the possible

is merely a measure of man's determination."

(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)

(GLOOMY MUSIC PLAYING)