SO PAINFUL: A former Red Wings coach and a defenseman were among the 43 persons died in an aircraft crash in Russia.
WWJ/AP) TUNOSHNA, Russia A Russian plane carrying the top hockey team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl collided with a riverbank seconds after takeoff on Wednesday, killing at least 43 people in one of the worst plane tragedies involving a sports team in history. Former Red Wings Ruslan Salei and Brad McCrimmon were among those killed.
According to the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry, the Yak-42 plane crashed shortly after taking off from an airstrip near Yaroslavl, about 150 miles northeast of Moscow, around 4 p.m. Moscow time. At the moment, the weather was sunny and clear.
The plane was carrying 45 people, including 37 passengers and eight crew members, according to the ministry, and all but two were killed in the crash.
Former Red Wings Assistant Coach McCrimmon was on the airplane, according to Red Wings Head Coach Mike Babcock, and his death has been verified by Russian officials. McCrimmon, who was named as the Lokomotiv’s head coach, played defense for six NHL teams in a 17-year career, including Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit, Hartford, and Phoenix, participating in 1,222 regular-season games and amassing 81 goals, 322 assists, and 1,416 penalty minutes.
Russian officials confirm that Salei, a former Red Wings defenceman, died in the incident. According to Swedish embassy officials, Red Wings goaltender prospect Stefan Liv was also dead.
A number of NHL alumni were reportedly on board when the plane crashed. A Czech embassy official said Czech players Josef Vasicek, Karel Rachunek and Jan Marek were among those killed. Latvian officials confirmed the death of defenseman Karlis Skrastins and Pavol Demitra’s agent, Matt Keator, confirmed his client was one of the players killed in the crash. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello confirmed that Alexander Vasyunov also died in the crash.
Other NHL alumni listed on the team’s roster include Robert Dietrich, as well as Igor Korolev and Alexander Karpovtsev, who were listed as assistant coaches for the team.
A club spokesman for Lokomotiv has confirmed the entire main roster, plus four players from the youth team, was on the plane.
Officials have revealed that Russian athlete Alexander Galimov and a flight crew member are the only survivors of the tragedy. Galimov is claimed to be in critical condition, with 80 percent of his body burned.
AP correspondent Vladimir Isachenkov said the hockey team was on its way to a season-opening game when it crashed.
“The hockey team called Lokomotiv from the city of Yaroslavl, along the Volga River, was heading to Belarus where it was to play tomorrow against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Kontinental Hockey League,” said Isachenkov.
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 Prakhova, saw the plane going down, hearing a loud bang and then seeing 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.”
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. The Lokomotiv club was a three-time Russian League champion in 1997, 2002 and 2003 and took the bronze last season.
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.
The plane that crashed was relatively new, built in 1993, and belonged to a small Yak Service company.
Isachenkov said an investigation into the crash is already underway.
“Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sent the nation’s transport minister to the crash site and other top officials are also headed there. It’s not immediately clear what caused the crash,” said Isachenkov.
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.
