Russian jet carrying hockey team crashes, 36 dead

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The Associated press


YAROSLAVL, Russia (AP) — A Russian jet carrying a top local ice hockey team crashed while taking off Wednesday in western Russia, killing 36 people and leaving one critically injured, officials said.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 plane crashed immediately after leaving an airport near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow. It said one person survived the crash with grave injuries.

There was no immediate word on weather conditions.

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

The team was heading to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The league is made up of several ex-Soviet nations.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately sent the nation's transport minister to the site of the crash, 10 miles (15 kilometers) east of Yaroslavl.

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

[redred]

:shock: i had this ready to copy and paste for a thread

:rip:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Sorry :oops:

[redred]

it's cool :tup: sad story

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Yeah it is :rip:

[MrsM]

Wow - can you imagine if that happeded to a NHL/NFL/NBA/MLB team

[Jezter]

Wow - can you imagine if that happeded to a NHL/NFL/NBA/MLB team

Doesn't matter to who or what it happens, it is a tragedy always. :( Be it "just" civilians or sports stars. A whole team swept away in a blink of an eye is awful.

RIP

[MrsM]

Doesn't matter to who or what it happens, it is a tragedy always. :( Be it "just" civilians or sports stars. A whole team swept away in a blink of an eye is awful.

RIP

Sorry - I didn't mean to imply that sports teams are more important than non sports people - it is a tragedy either way. I was thinking from the sports side - of how many people are employed by a team - and for that team to be all of a sudden gone, what that would mean.

[samarchepas]

Wow - can you imagine if that happeded to a NHL/NFL/NBA/MLB team

That's exactly what happened, from the KHL, second best hockey league in the world (Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, Josef Vasicek and Karlis Skrastins were on that team.)
:rip:

[Joebob034]

man that sucks Salei played for the Wings last year and I really liked him

[Godfather]

Oh my God :(

This is terrible. Pavol Demitra was a former Canuck too. This is the worst summer for hockey ever.

May they all rest in peace.

[FBD]

:( /\

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Up to 43 dead now :(


Russian jet crash kills 43, many top hockey stars
By LYNN BERRY, Associated Press 6 minutes ago


TUNOSHNA, Russia (AP)—A Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team crashed while taking off Wednesday, killing at least 43 people and leaving two others critically injured, officials said. It was one of the worst plane crashes ever involving a sports team.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 plane crashed into a riverbank on the Volga River immediately after leaving an airport near the western city of Yaroslavl, 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow. It was sunny at the time.

It said the plane was carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where the team was to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The plane had 45 people on board, including 37 passengers and eight crew.

Officials said Russian player Alexander Galimov survived the crash along with a crewmember.

Eleven foreign players were reportedly onboard the jet. A Czech embassy official said Czech players Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek and Jan Marek were among those killed.

The plane that crashed was relatively new, built in 1993, and belonged to a small Moscow-based Yak Service company.

Swarms of police and rescue crews rushed to Tunoshna, a picturesque village with a blue-domed church on the banks of the Volga River. One of the plane’s engines could be seen poking out of the river and a flotilla of boats combed the water for bodies. Russian rescue workers struggled to heft the bodies of large, strong athletes in stretchers up the muddy, steep riverbank.

One resident, Irina Pryakhova, saw the plane going down, then heard a loud bang and saw a plume of smoke.

“It was wobbling in flight, it was clear that something was wrong,” she said. “I saw them pulling bodies to the shore, some still in their seats with seatbelts on.”

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately sent the nation’s transport minister to the site, 10 miles (15 kilometers) east of Yaroslavl. President Dmitry Medvedev also planned to tour the crash site.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl is a leading force in Russian hockey and came third in the KHL last year. The team’s coach is Canadian Brad McCrimmon, who took over in May. He was most recently an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings, and played for years in the NHL for Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix.

The Russian team also featured several top European players and former NHL stars, including Slovakian forward and national team captain Pavol Demitra(notes), who played in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks.

Other top names on the team include Russian defensemen Ruslan Salei(notes) and Karlis Skrastins(notes), and Swedish goalie Stefan Liv.

The KHL is an international club league that pits together teams from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Slovakia. Lokomotiv was a three-time Russian League champion in 1997, 2002-2003. It took bronze last season.

A cup match between hockey teams Salavat Yulaev and Atlant in the central Russian city of Ufa was called off midway after news of the crash was announced by Konintental Hockey League head Alexander Medvedev. Russian television broadcast images of an empty arena in Ufa as grief-stricken fans abandoned the stadium.

“We will do our best to ensure that hockey in Yaroslavl does not die, and that it continues to live for the people that were on that plane,” said Russian Ice Hockey Federation President Vladislav Tretyak.

In recent years, Russia and the other former Soviet republics have had some of the world’s worst air traffic safety records. Experts blame the poor safety record on the age of the aircraft, weak government controls, poor pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality.

Medvedev has announced plans to take aging Soviet-built planes out of service starting next year. The short- and medium-range Yak-42 has been in service since 1980 and about 100 are still being used by Russian carriers.

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.

In other plane crashes involving sports teams, 30 members of the Uruguayan rugby club Old Christians were killed in a crash in the Andes in 1972.

The entire 18-member U.S. figure skating team died in a crash on their way to the 1961 world championships in Brussels.

In 1949, the Torino soccer team lost 18 players near Turin, Italy, while the Munich air crash of 1958 cost eight Manchester United players their lives.

[samarchepas]

Might be wrong but Alexander Galimov's wikipedia 's page says he is dead too :( (so possibly 44 now)

[Godfather]

Yeah I was going to say: Wikipedia says 44 and 1 survivor :(

Edit: Now it says 26 confirmed dead?

[Muddy]

Holy crap!

[samarchepas]

Yeah I was going to say: Wikipedia says 44 and 1 survivor :(

Edit: Now it says 26 confirmed dead?

26? everywhere I look it says 43 as of now :-k

[Jezter]

Sorry - I didn't mean to imply that sports teams are more important than non sports people - it is a tragedy either way. I was thinking from the sports side - of how many people are employed by a team - and for that team to be all of a sudden gone, what that would mean.

Oh no no! Nothing to say sorry for! I didn't mean it that way... I just wanted to add to that post of yours there.

[Godfather]

26? everywhere I look it says 43 as of now :-k

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Lokomotiv_Yaroslavl_plane_crash

It hopped back up. Must have been some poor media report that got it changed for a few minutes.

This is so sad :(

[Jezter]

Going to be a tough start for KHL this year and for sure linger in players mind. Especially when the traveling distances in Russia are as big if not bigger as in the States/Canada, so a lot of flying trips...

[samarchepas]

Going to be a tough start for KHL this year and for sure linger in players mind. Especially when the traveling distances in Russia are as big if not bigger as in the States/Canada, so a lot of flying trips...

They delayed the start of the season when the accident was officially known....dunno for how long though.

[Joebob034]

What's really sad is that if my memory serves correct Salei missed a game or two last year for paternity leave since his wife just had a baby.

[DemonGeminiX]

This is terrible.

:(

[samarchepas]

The Dinamo Minsk vs Lokomotiv game, which was to take place on the 8th of September, is postponed. A decision regarding the Yaroslavl club’s participation in the KHL championship 2011-12 season will be taken in the near future. (From the KHL's official website)...How are they seriously expected to participate in the championship when nobody in the team survived?

[Hal-9000]

hello, Brad McCrimmon?

He played on the Flames ....and a few other high profile teams.Great coach from what I've read too.

Rip lads :(

[deebakes]

:rip:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

hello, Brad McCrimmon?

He played on the Flames ....and a few other high profile teams.Great coach from what I've read too.

Rip lads :(

Yup, he was drafted by the Bruins :(

[Godfather]

Going to be a tough start for KHL this year and for sure linger in players mind. Especially when the traveling distances in Russia are as big if not bigger as in the States/Canada, so a lot of flying trips...

I know during the Lockout there were NHL'ers who just walked away from the KHL for that very reason(Brad Richards lasted 2 weeks). Apparently travel and hospitality are hellish (granted NHL'ers are used to 5 star hotels and private jets but still), especially with the poorer teams. Many teams traveled on old military cargo planes with chairs bolted down not long ago, and there are some nightmare tales.

I know the NHL, MLB and NFL has 'disaster drafts' where a team is recreated by drafting players from around the league (each team may protect a certain number of players, and new draft choices are all fair game). I wonder if the KHL has a similar contingency?

[samarchepas]

From what I can understand (From russian journalists on twitter...in english of course! :lol: ) they don't have a "disaster draft"...but are working on one.BTW Alexander Galimov (The player who survived) is still alive, a lot of reports said the opposite and were later said to be false.

[Godfather]

Yeah... his Wiki page says he suffered severe burns to 90% of his body :wha: Can't imagine a worse injury...

[samarchepas]

Yeah... his Wiki page says he suffered severe burns to 90% of his body :wha: Can't imagine a worse injury...

I can imagine worse...brain damage! If he can make it and survive those burns he should be able to recover at some point.BTW he is a close friend of Ovechkin (Ovie was in total shock when it happened)

[Godfather]

Ever seen a documentary on severe burn victim and what they go through every day for the rest of their lives? Recover isn't a word I'd chose for what they go through.

If brain damage meant not being there, I'd take that over the burns... honestly, at 90% 3rd degree burns I'd probably rather just slip away.

[Noilly Pratt]

Usually when you're that burnt, they purposely induce a coma so that you can heal up first. Buddy of mine from high school was fooling with his motorcycle and got really badly burnt on his face and hands. He was kept in a coma for days just to ensure better healing. At that point, you don't even feel that you're burnt, and you do more damage than good by just merely moving around.

I hope he recovers OK...and RIP for the rest of them.

[samarchepas]

Ever seen a documentary on severe burn victim and what they go through every day for the rest of their lives? Recover isn't a word I'd chose for what they go through.

If brain damage meant not being there, I'd take that over the burns... honestly, at 90% 3rd degree burns I'd probably rather just slip away.
90% of his body...but nothing says that the burns are all 3rd degree btw.Might be because of the conditions I had during all my life...but I'd choose life over death no matter what (Unless the brain is damaged)
On rebuilding the team...So far, it looks like that every KHL team will release up to 3 players to rebuild that team for this season, with 18 teams it would give around 35-45 players to choose from.

[Acid Trip]

In case anyone is interested, this is how burn percentages are calculated. It's called the rule of 9's.

http://images.emedicinehealth.com/images/eMedicineHealth/illustrations/rule_of_nines.jpg

[samarchepas]

In case anyone is interested, this is how burn percentages are calculated. It's called the rule of 9's.

http://images.emedicinehealth.com/images/eMedicineHealth/illustrations/rule_of_nines.jpg

Interesting :-k...it will be a long recovery.

[samarchepas]

Doctors tell SovSport Galimov was able to TALK to his father! Galimov is in a medically induced coma right now.

[samarchepas]

He died today because of his injuries :rip:

[MrsM]

:rip: at least the pain is gone :(