At least 43 killed in Russian hockey team plane crash

Anna Smolchenko

7 September 2011 at 6:07 pm

A photo provided by Russia's Emergency Ministry shows the wreckage of a Yak-42 passenger jet that crashed on takeoff near Yaroslavl's city airport, killing at least 43 people

Map locating Yaroslavl, in Russia, where 44 people died after a Russian jet carrying hockey players to their first match of the season crashed on takeoff in the latest blow to the country's tainted air safety record

TV grab from Russian NTV channel showing the only survivor from the plane crash outside Yaroslavl airport some 300 kilometres (185 miles) northeast of Moscow, taken on a stretcher. A jet carrying a Russian ice hockey team to their first match of the season crashed on take-off Wednesday, killing at least 43 people including several Olympic and former NHL stars

A family picture taken on August 21, 2011 shows Lokomotiv ice hockey team in Yaroslavl. Forty-four people have died after a Russian jet carrying hockey players to their first match of the season crashed on takeoff in the latest blow to the country's tainted air safety record

The wreckage of a Yak-42 passenger jet that crashed on takeoff, killing at least 43 people

A jet carrying a Russian ice hockey team to their first match of the season crashed on take-off Wednesday, killing at least 43 people including several Olympic and former NHL stars. The Yak-42 was flying members of three-time Russian champions Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to a season-opening match in the Belarussian capital Minsk when it went down a few moments into the flight some 300 kilometres (185 miles) northeast of Moscow. The chief local surgeon told Channel One television that one Russian player and a crew member had survived the crash in grave condition. The crash occurred near the site of an annual political conference to be attended Thursday by President Dmitry Medvedev ahead of key parliamentary and presidential elections. By grim coincidence, Medvedev, who is also expected to tour the scene of the wreckage, was set to speak from Lokomotiv's ice hockey arena which has been turned into the forum venue for the two-day event. Among those killed were the team's Canadian coach Brad McCrimmon -- a former assistant with the NHL's Detroit Red Wings -- goalie and former Swedish Olympic champion Stefan Liv as well as Slovak ex-NHL standout Pavol Demitra. Three Czech stars -- Jan Marek, Josef Vasicek and Karel Rachunek -- were also among the dead Thirty-one-year-old center Marek and 32-year-old defenceman Rachunek were world champions from 2010, while the 31-year-old center Vasicek had a world title from 2005. The list of victims also included Karlis Skrastins, 37, star of Latvian hockey, who had signed with the Russian team after playing with several in the NHL, and German officials named a player from Germany, Robert Dietrich. Thousands of the team's fans flocked to the ice arena in the evening for a candlelight vigil placing heaps of roses and fan scarves near its walls. Russia's main Channel One television interrupted regular broadcasting to discuss the tragedy's impact on society and sports. The sorrow spread across the global sporting community as nations from Canada to Latvia mourned the loss of some of their nations' biggest stars. "Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world, including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends who at one time excelled in our league," said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. The local emergencies ministry said the plane began listing to the left only seconds into the afternoon flight and crashed about 500 metres (yards) away from the Tunoshna airport. Initial reports said the jet may have hit a local radar antenna and the twisted wreckage of the aircraft lay buried in the Tunoshna River as divers searched for signs of life. "We saw a plane and then heard a boom. There was a huge flame that quickly turned to smoke," said 16-year-old witness Andrei Gorshkov. "It was so scary, we did not know what to do," he told AFP. "The plane failed to reach the required altitude, hit an obstacle and started falling to pieces. It burst into flames on impact," a local police official was quoted as saying. The crash revived memories of an August 1979 disaster that claimed the lives of 17 football players from the Tashkent side Pakhtakor. The crash comes on the heels of a summer full of mishaps that have also marred the country's once-proud space programme. Two accidents involving Tu-134 and An-24 jets killed a total of 54 people and prompted Medvedev to call for most of the aircraft to be retired by January 1. That move was followed by a series of smaller air accidents as well as a Volga River boat sinking that killed 122 people out on a pleasure cruise. Several subsequent space failures have prompted Russia to ground its most famous rockets in a move that now threatens to leave the International Space Station abandoned for the first time in 10 years. This dire record has tarnished Medvedev's vision of the modern Russia he promotes in messages ahead of presidential elections next year in which Vladimir Putin -- his more nationalist mentor and prime minister -- could also run. The popular hockey side was founded in 1959 and last won the country's title in the 2002-2003 season. It also enjoys a national following and recently attracted several younger stars from the NHL. One of those killed included 23-year-old former New Jersey Devils player Alexander Vasyunov -- a Yaroslavl native with many local friends. "We have been friends since childhood," 24-year-old Dmitry Luchnikov told AFP while recalling his friend's recent decision to play for his home team, hiding his eyes behind sunglasses. Russian authorities announced they have opened an investigation into the crash.