Plane Carrying KHL Team Crashes, Killing 43

Thom Yorke · 09-07-2011, 10:31 AM

Plane carrying KHL team crashes, killing 43

Quote:

TUNOSHNA, Russia - A Russian jet carrying a top hockey team crashed while taking off Wednesday in western Russia, killing 43 people and leaving two critically injured, officials said.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 crashed immediately after taking off from an airport near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River, 240 kilometres northeast of Moscow.

The ministry said the plane was carrying 45 people, including 37 passengers and eight crew. All but two were killed in the crash.

The ministry said the plane was carrying the Lokomotiv hockey team from Yaroslavl.

The team was heading to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dynamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League.

The KHL is an international club league that pits together teams from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Slovakia.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl is a leading force in Russian hockey and came third in the KHL last year. It's coached by Canadian Brad McCrimmon and includes several international stars in its ranks, such as Stefan Liv of Sweden and Czech Republic players Josef Vaicek and Jan Marek. Lokomotiv was a three-time Russian League champion in 1997, 2002 and 2003 and took the bronze last season.

It wasn't immediately clear which players were on board the Yak-42.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has sent his transport minister to the site of the crash, 15 kilometres east of Yaroslavl.

Former Montreal Canadien Brent Sopel, who is now playing in Russia, tweeted shortly after the crash: "In shock. Prayers out to all of the KHL families."

McCrimmon, 52, is a native of Saskatchewan. He played defence for six NHL teams -- Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix from 1979-80 to 1996-97.

He played 1,222 regular season games in the NHL, collecting 81 goals, 322 assists and 1,416 penalty minutes.

McCrimmon was an assistant coach with the New York Islanders, Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers and Detroit Red Wings. He also served as head coach of the Western Hockey League's Saskatoon Blades.

The short- and medium-range Yak-42 has been in service since 1980 and dozens are still in service with Russian and other airlines.

In June, another Russian passenger jet crashed in the northwestern city of Petrozavodsk, killing 47 people. The crash of that Tu-134 plane has been blamed on pilot error.

President Dmitry Medvedev has announced plans to take aging Soviet-built planes out of service starting next year.

Thom Yorke · 09-07-2011, 10:33 AM

Wow. What a terrible tradgedy. I always wondered about this happening to a pro sports team. RIP

Mykonos · 09-07-2011, 11:20 AM

Something similar's actually happened before, with the Man United squad. It's still terrible though, absolutely awful. My condolences go out to anyone who's lost anybody in this.

midnight rain · 09-07-2011, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Lokomotiv officials said "'everyone from the main roster was on the plane plus four players from the youth team.'"

That's awful. I wonder what the team is going to do to recover from this? My prayers go out to families of the victims.

Thom Yorke · 09-07-2011, 11:31 AM

Yeah there were actually two players on the team that had just won a World Junior Gold medal earlier this year and were only 19 years old. And apparently one of the players who didn't die in the crash died in surgery short after. And the now lone survivor is in critical condition with burns on 30% of his body.

As for what the team will do, who knows. One old Russian coach suggested every team send at least one player to them. A team official himself though said: "At first we didn't want to believe it. But right now there is no hope. The team is gone." What an eerie quote.

DoctorSoft · 09-08-2011, 09:06 PM

Me and my friends were talking about this today, really sad.

Burning Down · 09-09-2011, 07:49 AM

Terrible news. There is something happening in the hockey world, it seems.

09-07-2011, 11:20 AM	#3 (permalink)
Mykonos AWhatup Ganache? Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 381	Something similar's actually happened before, with the Man United squad. It's still terrible though, absolutely awful. My condolences go out to anyone who's lost anybody in this. __________________ 'Not that Becktionary, the Rhyming Becktionary!'- Bender Bending Rodriguez

09-07-2011, 10:33 AM	#2 (permalink)
Thom Yorke Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1,848	Wow. What a terrible tradgedy. I always wondered about this happening to a pro sports team. RIP

09-07-2011, 11:31 AM	#5 (permalink)
Thom Yorke Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1,848	Yeah there were actually two players on the team that had just won a World Junior Gold medal earlier this year and were only 19 years old. And apparently one of the players who didn't die in the crash died in surgery short after. And the now lone survivor is in critical condition with burns on 30% of his body. As for what the team will do, who knows. One old Russian coach suggested every team send at least one player to them. A team official himself though said: "At first we didn't want to believe it. But right now there is no hope. The team is gone." What an eerie quote.

09-08-2011, 09:06 PM	#6 (permalink)
DoctorSoft Rocket Appliances Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1,335	Me and my friends were talking about this today, really sad.

09-09-2011, 07:49 AM	#7 (permalink)
Burning Down The Music Guru. Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Beyond the Wall Posts: 4,858	Terrible news. There is something happening in the hockey world, it seems.