A Soviet-designed passenger jet carrying members of one of Russia's top professional hockey teams crashed on takeoff Wednesday, killing 43 people and casting a pall over the closely linked worlds of North American, European and Russian hockey.
The plane, carrying the Lokomotiv team from Yaroslavl, crashed on takeoff from the squad's hometown airport in western Russia. The team, which featured several top European players and former stars of North America's National Hockey League, was en route to its season-opening game in Belarus.
Russian officials said only two people, a crew member and a player, survived. They said 11 foreigners were among the dead.
Among those on the official passenger list that are presumed dead are Pavol Demitra, a Slovakian forward and national team captain who played in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks, and coach Brad McCrimmon, a Canadian who took over in May after working as an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings. Mr. McCrimmon had played 18 years in the NHL for Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix. Russian officials said a Canadian was among the dead but didn't immediately identify him.
Also on board were Czech forward Josef Vasicek, who played six seasons for the Carolina Hurricanes and won a Stanley Cup with them in 2006; veteran NHL defenseman Karel Rachunek of the Czech Republic; and goalie Stefan Liv, whose Swedish national team won the gold medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
Belarussian forward Ruslan Salei was on board, according to the passenger list and the Anaheim Ducks, for whom he played during an NHL career that spanned from 1996 to 2011. Russian news agencies had earlier reported Mr. Salei wasn't on the plane because he had traveled to Minsk on his own.
Officials said team forward Alexander Galimov survived but is in grave condition, with burns over 90% of his body. The surviving crew member, co-pilot Alexander Sizov, wasn't as severely injured, the Interfax news agency reported.
Lokomotiv's Yak-42 mid-range jet—operated by Yak-Servis, a Moscow-based charter and VIP airline—failed to gain altitude after takeoff in clear weather from the airport in Yaroslavl, hit an antenna on a radio beacon beyond the runway and crashed in flames on a bank of the Volga river, Interfax reported.
Russia's airlines have a spotty safety record and past crashes have been blamed on aging aircraft, poor maintenance and crew training and inadequate airport infrastructure.
In 2009, Yak-Servis's planes were grounded for two months by Russian regulators, who cited "major safety deficiencies," according to a European Union aviation-safety report. In 2010, the EU banned the company's two older Yak-40 planes from operating in Europe because they lacked modern safety gear.
Yak-Servis couldn't be reached for comment. Lifenews.ru, a Russian online-news site, showed a video of its general director, Oleg Silnitsky, saying the crash's cause remains unclear and that the plane, produced in 1993, had been inspected in July.
Lokomotiv—a three-time champion in the 24-team Kontinental Hockey League, or KHL, which brings together teams from Russia and several of its former Soviet neighbors—was due to play its opener in Minsk on Thursday.
League officials stopped a game in the city of Ufa after the crash. "A terrible woe has befallen us," league president Alexander Medvedev told the crowd. Russian television showed fans crying in the stands.
Vladimir Yakunin, president of the state railways, the team's sponsor, called the crash "a huge woe... for all of Russian sport," adding that the team would be rebuilt "in the memory of all those who perished in the crash," Interfax reported. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, in a statement, called the crash "a catastrophic loss to the hockey world."
The Russian league said Wednesday it would play its season as scheduled, with memorial activities added, and will decide later what to do about Lokomotiv's games.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered the minister of transport to go to the scene to lead the investigation and President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a full investigation, dispatching a top aide who had been attending a political conference in Yaroslavl to go to the crash site.
Russian aviation regulators said they would do special inspections of all 57 Yak-42s now operating in Russia.
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R.I.P
theeggsandwhich 1 month ago
@bostria @bbestboy14
are you fucking kidding me? the entire team got killed and all you two care about are those two girls? you guys are the most coldhearted people i've ever seen on YouTube.
TheBingojim 1 month ago
2:00 I think I'm in love.
bostria 5 months ago
1:05 mm she hot
bbestboy14 5 months ago
R.I.P. from Moskow..It was the best russian team
Blondiiiik 6 months ago
@pijodi
first see what's what in your house ...
No one is immune
67Slevin67 6 months ago
Play in russia ? death is near you all the time ...
pijodi 6 months ago
R.I.P from SLOVAKIA!
kundavau 6 months ago
Rest in peace
jan8919 6 months ago