Fearing the aircraft might explode, Thain began evacuating passengers, while goalkeeper Harry Gregg helped pull survivors from the wreckage.

[2] The last inquiry by the U.K. Board of Trade, released in 1969, found that the crash was caused by snow slush on the runway that slowed the plane too much to allow takeoff, and that Captain Thain was not to blame.

The crash not only derailed the team's title ambitions that year but also destroyed the nucleus of what promised to be one of the greatest generations of players in English football history.

[6] After overcoming Shamrock Rovers and Dukla Prague in the preliminary and first round respectively, United were drawn with Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia, now Serbia, for the quarter-finals.

[8] Eager not to miss Football League fixtures, and not to have a difficult trip again, the club chartered a British European Airways (BEA) plane from Manchester to Belgrade, for the away leg against Red Star.

[26] Rayment abandoned the take-off after Thain noticed the port boost pressure gauge fluctuating as the plane reached full power, and the engine sounded odd while accelerating.

Others, including Edwards, Tommy Taylor, Mark Jones, Eddie Colman and journalist Frank Swift, moved to the back of the plane, believing it safer.

The stewardesses, Rosemary Cheverton and Margaret Bellis, were the first to leave through a blown-out emergency window in the galley, followed by radio officer Rodgers.

[60] As the official cause, British authorities recorded a build-up of melting snow on the runway, which prevented the plane from reaching the required take-off speed.

"[64] That statement lifted Busby from his depression, and he returned by land and sea to Manchester, before watching his team play in the 1958 FA Cup final.

[66] Three players, Derek Lewin, Bob Hardisty and Warren Bradley, were transferred to United on short-term contracts by non-League club Bishop Auckland.

[69] United only won one more league game in the 1957–58 season after the crash, causing their title challenge to collapse and they fell to ninth place.

Real Madrid offered to loan Alfredo Di Stefano until the end of the season for half his wages, but the transfer was blocked by the FA, as it would prevent a British player to take that spot in the team.

The first, a plaque in the shape of the stadium with the image of a green pitch, inscribed with the names of the victims in black and gold glass, was placed above the entrance to the directors' box.

[80] Also unveiled that day was a memorial to the members of the press who died at Munich, which consisted of a bronze plaque that named the eight lost journalists.

First, in the Munich suburb of Trudering, on the corner of Karotschstraße and Emplstraße, there is a small wooden memorial depicting the Crucifixion, decorated by a stone trough filled with flowers.

[81] On 22 September 2004, a dark blue granite plaque set in a sandstone border was unveiled in the vicinity of the old Munich Airport on the corner of Rappenweg and Emplstraße, just metres from the wooden memorial.

[82] With a design in the shape of a football pitch, it reads, in both English and German, "In memory of all those who lost their lives here in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958".

[82] On 24 April 2008, the Munich city council decided to name the site where the memorial stone is placed "Manchesterplatz" (Manchester Square).

[84] On the 57th anniversary of the crash, 6 February 2015, Charlton and Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge opened a new museum exhibit commemorating the disaster at the German club's stadium, the Allianz Arena.

[90] In the midst of the preparations, former United player Eric Cantona, who had retired from football to pursue a career in film in 1997, expressed an interest in returning to the club for a farewell match.

They received massive international support following the disaster but they didn't treat people properly then, did nothing for us all those years, and they're still making money out of it directly now.

[98] A memorial billboard was unveiled outside Old Trafford, but it was criticized by some fans for including the logo of club's then-sponsor, American insurance firm AIG.

[98][103] At the derby match between United and City at Old Trafford on 10 February 2008, both teams were led onto the pitch by a lone piper playing "The Red Flag", and the managers – Sir Alex Ferguson and Sven-Göran Eriksson – each laid a wreath in the centre circle.

[106] United played in strips reminiscent of those worn by the 1958 team, numbered 1 to 11, with no advertising on the front or players' names on the back, while City removed sponsors' logos from their kit and the image of a small black ribbon was heat pressed onto the right shoulder.

[111] Manchester-born singer Morrissey also released a song called "Munich Air Disaster, 1958" as a B-side to "Irish Blood, English Heart" in 2004.

The title track pays tribute to those who lost their lives,[114] and includes the verse: Cut down in their prime, In silence, on that day, February 58, they got what they need, From Belgrade and back home to sleep Barry Navidi, producer of the 2004 film The Merchant of Venice, was reported to be working on a script for a Hollywood film about the Munich air crash.

The programme was met with criticism from former United winger Albert Scanlon, who claimed that it was full of inaccuracies, despite the production having consulted him about the content of the documentary.

Errors in the programme included the depiction of Jimmy Murphy giving a pre-match team talk in Belgrade, despite him being in Cardiff at the time, and the plane being shown as only half full when nearly every seat was occupied.

The title alludes to the use of the word “Munichs” as a term of abuse towards Manchester United supporters, which the author believes should be “reclaimed and worn as a badge of pride”.