BEA Elizabethan

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The BEA Elizabethan were Airspeed Ambassador airliners operated by British European Airways.

The most infamous example was the Munich Air Disaster when the Manchester United team was travelling in this type of plane stopped in Munich for re-fuelling. The plane crashed on take-off, killing most of the people in the plane. The plane was not repaired after the crash, and the manufacturer blamed the slippery runway for the crash.

The runway was not slippery. It was contaminated with slush. Had it been slippery the plane would probably have become airborne. The slush restricted the acceleration of the aircraft - it failed to reach the speed it needed to fly and crashed. The pilot should have rejected the takeoff.