Leicester crash another aviation disaster in English football’s history

ENGLISH football and aviation tragedies are sadly no strangers and the horrific scenes at Leicester City early on Sunday will stir frightening memories of other air disasters which resulted in both fatalities and miraculous escapes.

• ‘SERIOUS AND TRAGIC’: Leicester City helicopter crash

ENGLISH football and aviation tragedies are sadly no strangers and the horrific scenes at Leicester City early on Sunday will stir frightening memories of other air disasters which resulted in both fatalities and miraculous escapes.

While all concerned with the Premier League side are in a state of shock and disbelief, those connected with Manchester United, Leeds United and fourth tier club Swindon Town will have particular sympathies with the Foxes.

The Munich air disaster of February 1958 saw 23 people lose their lives, including eight members of the Manchester United side nicknamed the Busby Babes.

The burning helicopter in the parking lot outside the King Power Stadium in Leicester. (Picture via AP)

The plane crashed while taking off on an icy runway. The team was returning from a European Cup match in Belgrade and had stopped in Germany to refuel.

The crash destroyed the nucleus of a tremendously talented young group of players and it would be a decade before a rebuilt side became the first English side to claim the European Cup in 1968.

Another ‘Munich’ was narrowly avoided late one March evening in 1998, thanks to the heroics of a plane captain named John Hackett.

Leeds were returning home after a 3-0 defeat at West Ham. As the plane reached 150ft after taking off from Stanstead Airport the starboard engine exploded and captain Hackett was forced to make an emergency landing.

The helicopter taking off from the field. Picture: BT sport

Then assistant manager David O’Leary, later to become the boss who would lead the Yorkshire side to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2001, pushed open an emergency door as players and staff rushed to safety in fear that the plane would explode.

Your reporter was at Elland Road a few weeks later when a huge crowd rose as one to applaud Captain Hackett and his crew for their quick thinking.

Captain Hackett later told the BBC: “The whole night sky lit up. Our first thoughts were it was a bomb.”

Now retired, he revealed that in three similar previous incidents “everybody perished”.

The public pay their respects during a memorial service at Old Trafford Stadium on the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster. (AP Photo/PA, Gareth Copley)

My ‘personal’ experience of aviation tragedy came during my time as the chief sports writer of English daily The Swindon Advertiser.

Former Chelsea captain Dennis Wise had been installed as Swindon Town’s new coach and optimism was high ahead of the opening match of the season away to Hartlepool United in the north east of England.

A 1-0 win meant spirits were high as the club’s chief executive Mark Devlin, his 10-year-old son, and four other passengers and crew prepared to fly back from the game.

Brazilian football team Chapecoense were involved in a horror plane crash in 2016. . Picture: AFP

However, the Cessna plane never made it, crashing into trees on a golf course as it approached its destination.

I remember feeling sick to the pit of my stomach as news filtered through and thoughts immediately turned to the question of fatalities.

All on board sustained serious injuries with Mr Devlin’s son breaking both legs while his father suffered shoulder fractures and requiring a metal rod in his back among other injuries.

I knew Mark well and his son was a familiar figure around the club too.

I remember speaking to him in hospital after the crash and what stuck with me was his sense of “feeling lucky” rather than the horror of a near-death experience.

Speaking to me (and the Advertiser) as he recovered from the crash he said: “inevitably there are moments when you think ‘why us’. The plane hit a tree before hitting the ground so obviously the tree absorbed the initial impact. Had the plane gone straight into the ground, well I think it would have been different.”

The official report into the cash concluded “insufficient fuel was carried for adequate reserves and contingency fuel to complete the flight,”

Twelve years on from the crash Mr Devlin is now the CEO of English Championship club Brentford.

Tweeting on Sunday following events at Leicester, he said: “Brings back some frightening memories but I also recall how magnificent our emergency services are. Thoughts are with everyone at the club.”

Chelsea investor and board member Matthew Harding died in a helicopter accident in October 1996, flying back from the Blues’ game at Bolton.

And it is not just English football that has suffered aviation tragedy. In 2016 Brazilian outfit Chapecoense were on board a flight that crashed near Medellin, Columbia. Only six of the 77 passengers survived.

Originally published as Leicester crash another aviation disaster in English football’s history