Manchester United team plane came within seconds of crashing into another aircraft on the runway as it tried to land in Germany

 

• Reds' chartered Monarch Airbus A321 plane was seconds away from touchdown at Cologne when it had to abort the landing
• Aircraft, carrying the team and back room staff, was 1,312ft from the runway when the pilot was alerted to another plane on the ground
• Incident came just days after Munich air disaster survivor Bill Foulkes died
• The club lost eight players in the February 6 1958 disaster, which claimed the lives of 23 people

By Anna Edwards
The Manchester United squad narrowly avoided crashing with another plane last night as they came in to land in Cologne.
The Reds' chartered Monarch Airbus A321 plane was seconds away from touchdown at Cologne when it had to abort the landing.
The aircraft, carrying the team and back room staff, was 1,312ft from the runway when the pilot was alerted to another plane on the ground and had to quickly abandon the descent and rise sharply.

The Monarch airlines plane that carried the Manchester United team to Cologne had to abort its landing

The 185-seater jet circled around and landed safely 10 minutes later, with the captain apologising for the incident.

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After landing, United captain Rio Ferdinand tweeted: 'Landed in Germany....just...I've only just recovered after that choppy landing.'

United captain Rio Ferdinand tweeted: 'Landed in Germany... just... I've only just recovered after that choppy landing.'

The incident came just days after Munich air disaster survivor Bill Foulkes died aged 81. The club lost eight players in the 1958 disaster, which claimed the lives of 23 people.
The crash happened on February 6 as Manchester United players and staff returned from a European Cup game in Yugoslavia.
After the plane failed to take off on two previous efforts, the pilot attempted a third attempt.
The aircraft rose a few feet off the ground but ran into a wooden fence. The port wing hit a building and the plane caught fire.
One member of the United camp who on the plane, which had earlier departed from Manchester Airport, said: 'It was quite frightening.
'We were coming in to land when we had to pull up suddenly because it appears there was a plane on the runway.
'The captain came on the intercom to apologise for what happened and then we landed safely.'
It's understood neither former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, nor Sir Bobby Charlton were on the plane.
It is thought that Sir Alex will fly to Germany today.
A clutch of current United stars, including skipper Nemanja Vidic, Michael Carrick and Robin van Persie, also missed the drama.
United have flown to Germany to take on Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League group stage tonight.

Rio Ferdinand's panic at the near-collision was palpable from his relieved tweet

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, center, trains with teammates Ryan Giggs, left, and Rio Ferdinand, second left, before the flight

Ferdinand and his teammates will wear black armbands for the Leverkusen game in a tribute to Foulkes.
The incident delayed manager David Moyes' Champions League press conference for the Leverkusen match in the BayArena.
When a plane aborts a landing on the flight's final approach, it is known as a 'go-around'.
There are several situations in which a captain makes the manoeuvre, such as objects on the runway, hazardous weather or faulty equipment.
According to aviation experts a go-around is not classed as an emergency and is not uncommon. Monarch Airlines confirmed the incident had taken place but declined to comment further.