On 11 February 1985, a bus carrying members of the Band of the Royal Air Force Germany, crashed on the autobahn south of the town of Ingolstadt, between Nuremberg and Munich.

[2] The band, which was based at RAF Rheindahlen at the time, had been travelling to an engagement at the Royal Air Force Germany Winter Survival School (RAFGWSS) in Bad Kohlgrub, Bavaria, when the crash occurred, resulting in the deaths of 19 musicians, the coach driver, and one Royal Air Force Policeman.

Initially, 24 people had survived the crash, some being unable to escape through a lower deck emergency door which had become wedged shut during the collision.

The other seven victims, including the coach driver, were buried in Germany, so were outside the remit of British coroner's inquests and sheriff's inquiries.

[15][16] By April 1986, the Band of the Royal Air Force Germany was back to full strength and undertaking musical appointments.

Dutch police were given permission to stop foreign drivers with flammable loads entering the Netherlands if the road conditions were bad.