1958

 
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The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European AirwaysFlight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway atMunich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane was theManchester United football team, nicknamed the "Busby Babes", along with a number of supporters and journalists.[1] Twenty of the 44 people on board the aircraft died in the crash

 
 
The new wing design was extremely thin, with a thickness-to-chord ratio of only 3.36% and an aspect ratio of 2.45. The wing's leading-edges were so thin (0.016 in/0.41 mm) and sharp that they presented a hazard to ground crews, and protective guards had to be installed during ground operations.
The safety record of the F-104 Starfighter became high-profile news, especially in Germany, in the mid-1960s. In West Germany it came to be nicknamed&