James Thain

James Thain (8 February 1921 – 6 August 1975) was a British aviator and former Royal Air Force officer. He was command pilot aboard BEA Flight 609 when it crashed in the 1958 Munich air disaster.

Thain started his career as an Royal Air Force sergeant. He was later promoted to warrant officer and was given an emergency commission in as an acting pilot officer in April 1944. He was promoted pilot officer on probation in September that year. He was subsequently made flight lieutenant in May 1948, receiving a permanent commission in that rank in 1952. He retired from the RAF to join British European Airways (BEA).

On 6 February 1958, Thain was pilot in command of an Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador (Lord Burghley, G-ALZU) flying out of Munich. The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United football team back from a match in Yugoslavia.

After two failed attempts, due to problems with boost surging in one of the Ambassador's engines, Thain chose to make a third try, hoping to stay on schedule, rather than remain overnight for maintenance at Munich. The aircraft failed to take off and crashed, killing twenty-one people in all.

The German airport authorities blamed Thain for the accident at the time, saying he did not de-ice the aircraft's wings, despite eyewitness statements indicating deicing was not required. On Christmas Day 1960 he was dismissed by BEA; he spent the next decade trying to clear his name. He never flew for an airline again.

It was subsequently learned slush on the runway had made it impossible for the Ambassador to gain flying speed. Thain was cleared in 1968. Despite this finding, German authorities continued to blame Thain.

Retiring to his poultry farm in southern England, Thain suffered a fatal heart attack in August 1975 at the age of 54, in Berkshire.

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