LONDON, MARCH 31: A plane carrying one of Britain's top soccer teams crash-landed in flames just after take-off today in a terrifying reminder of an air disaster 40 years ago which wiped out much of the Manchester United team.Leeds United players and officials jumped out of the burning plane after it nose-dived into grass at the end of the runway at Stansted Airport, north of London.
``Just as we got off the ground there was a fire in the right-side engine and as we got higher there was an explosion,'' assistant manager David O'Leary told reporters.
``All of a sudden it was like a roller-coaster. We dipped and.... Hit the deck,'' he said.
The 44 people on board the turbo-prop plane escaped with only one or two minor injuries. Some told of jumping 15 feet (4.5 metres) to the ground from the back door of the plane.
Leeds United had chartered the Belfast-based Emerald Airways plane to take them back to northern England.
The crash brought back memories of the 1958 Munich disaster when a planecarrying Manchester United players crashed and burst into flames on take off. Eight young players were killed, wiping out the cream of Britain's best club team then.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
