Russian Jet Carrying Championship Hockey Team Crashes, Killing 43
- Posted on September 7, 2011 at 9:29am by
Billy Hallowell
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Russia's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Ice Hockey Team
TUNOSHNA, Russia (AP) — A Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team crashed into a river bank Wednesday while taking off in western Russia, killing at least 43 people and leaving two others critically injured, officials said.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 plane crashed in sunny weather immediately after leaving an airport near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow.
It said the plane was carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl 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 ministry was carrying 45 people, including 37 passengers and eight crew, and two people survived the crash.
It wasn’t immediately clear which players were on board the Yak-42. Officials said player Alexander Galimov survived the crash along with a crewmember.
Rescuers work at the crash site of a Russian Yak-42 jet near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011. (AP Photo)
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately sent the nation’s transport minister to the site, 10 miles (15 kilometers) east of Yaroslavl.
The plane that crashed was relatively new, built in 1993, and belonged to a small Yak Service company.
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 mosly recently an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings, and played 18 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, who played in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks.
Other top names include forward Josef Vasicek of the Czech Republic, Czech defenseman Karel Rachunek, Russian defensemen Ruslan Salei and Karlis Skrastins, 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.
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 resident, Irina Pryakhova, saw the plane going down.
“It was wobbling in flight, it was clear that something was wrong,” she said. “It went down behind the trees and there was a bang and a plume of smoke.”
She said rescuers pulled victims’ bodies out of the Volga River. “I saw them pulling bodies to the shore, some still in their seats with seatbelts on,” Pryakhova said.
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.
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 about 100 are still in service with 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. Below, watch a report from Russia Today:
This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.
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Git-R-Done
Posted on September 8, 2011 at 9:22pmPrayers are with the victims, their families and friends.
Report Post »in vino veritas
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:16pmHeartbreaking. My prayers go out.
Report Post »SychinLegacy
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 7:25pmRIP Brad Micrimmion and Ruslan Salei. Both served my Detroit Red Wings in the past and will surely be missed. Salei especially hurts because I really like him last season and was hoping he would return and his wife just gave birth last January I believe.
Report Post »Xyz22
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:18pmSkrastins and Salei played on my Avs here in Colo. Both great guys. I feel for the families of all these young men. What a tragedy.
Report Post »Corky Boyd
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 5:34pmI wonder of there were any ex NHL players on board. I guess they will release a list shortly.
Report Post »EqualJustice
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 5:08pmThat is so very sad. I thought they had GROUNDED those unsafe planes back in June?
Report Post »Black Manta
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 3:53pmI can tell by some of your responses that your not saved…be sure of that….
Report Post »thegreatcarnac
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 3:45pmNow is the time to play Russia in hockey.
Report Post »drybackinpi
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 1:54pmOh well.
Report Post »PureDrumFury
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 1:10pmI live in St. Louis and have always been a Blues fan. I watched Pavol score goals at Scottrade too many times to count. He is in the top ten all-time for Blues scoring. And Blues players have always been known to be extraordinarily nice, down-to-earth people who donate time and money to charity and are always involved in the community. This is so sad. May God be with their families.
Report Post »johnj1952
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:53pmWas it one of the militery jets violating other countrys airspace? If not sorry if its innocents, these things happen.
Report Post »JLGunner
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:41pmand we need their help getting into space?
Report Post »IndyPAGirl
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:03pmSo terribly sad. I hope the attention this story is getting prompts Russia to do something about their aging fleet immediately, so that these good people did not have to die in vain. RIP.
Report Post »Therese
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:44amWhat Sad News. Pavol Demita played in St. Louis and was one of my favorite players.
Report Post »In my opinion Hockey Players are the most down to earth athletes, and some of the most giving and generous people in the sports world. God Bless All Of Their Families at this Time. GO BLUES !!!
Therese
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:49amI spelled Pavol’s last name wrong. Rest In Peace Pavol Demitra
Report Post »saranda
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:30pmI absolutely agree with your assessment of hockey players. Brad McCrimmon, who lost his life in this plane crash as the team’s coach, was a great person as well who had a good and long NHL career. I played against Brad as a youth and knew him again as an adult in some dealings in Canada. I wish the NFL and NBA could find a way to recruit better people, maybe the difference is there are not enough Canadians in those sports.
Report Post »Kaoscontrol
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:40amWhile this is a tragic accident and could have happened anywhere, Russia has terrible planes, trains and automobiles. Socialism and Communisim never produce anything good.
Report Post »South Philly Boy
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:12amI hope this Never happens to any USA team.
Report Post »Servant Of YHVH
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 2:45pmRegardless of nationality, I pray that his never happens to anyone much less sports teams ever again.
Report Post »Sy Kosys
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:10amHOLY BALLS :(
Very sad news, Blessings to all families, GOD SPEED to those poor souls
As an aside, what is UP with this spate of hockey-related deaths of late? 3 NHL’ers this summer, now a freaking PLANE?!?
Just so very sad….
Report Post »TAXEVERYONE
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:01amOur condolences to their families.
Report Post »Bonnieblue2A
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:01amSad, very sad.
Russia hasn’t had a very good recent record in the air. Two space bound rockets crashing and now this. Just sayin’………
Report Post »WhatNXT
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:56amTragic
Report Post »yiska8
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:53amThe whole hockey team! Why do these planes having so much trouble after takeoff in Russia? Sometimes I think there are no plane “accidents” in Russia with Putin in charge. So sorry for the all those passengers and their families.God Bless.
Report Post »Seabee79
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:53amBummer, maybe russia should invest in Boeing.
Report Post »vtxphantom
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:12amRIP.
Russia has a problem keeping their stuff in the air. Lots of NASA people out of a job right now. I don’t like saying that, but there is no game here in the US.
Report Post »DanWesson455
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:52amSad Story. Too bad Russia still can’t build a decent plane or at least a reliable one.
Report Post »randy
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:42amSad
Report Post »SquidVetOhio
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:36amI’m a huge hockey fan. This is very sad. Hockey players are great people no matter what country they are from.
Report Post »CrazyTexan
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:51amOne of my kids played/roomed Jr’s with some Russian players last year, and ended up hanging with them quite a bit. Ironicly, they loved America. This is tragic.
Report Post »SHOOTnCRASH
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:27amI too am a huge hockey fan as my name suggests. SHOOTnCRASH is a hockey term as I‘m sure you’ll know. Man, hope the reporting on this is wrong. Go Sharks!
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