NFR: Russian Hockey Deaths

[Logicalman]

Obviously not Fulham or Football related, but this is equivalent to the Munich Air Disaster in the hockey world, and in world sports, and deserves our sympathy as sports fans. 43 dead.

My sympathies go to the families and fans of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team.

For those that are not aware of what happened, here is the BBC story.

..

[The Equalizer]

This is a real tragedy. A friend of mine is close friends with many of the hockey players out in Russia and I'm sure he knows some people who were on that flight. Haven't heard from him yet though.

Very sad.

[Nick the Swede]

Horrible indeed!

There was a Swedish international among the players who died in the crash and as he was one of the most popular players in the country you can really tell that loads of people over here are grieving today.

[Burt]

Blimey... Not good. Sympathies etc...

[sipwell]

A tragedy for international hockey. The comparison with the ManU team in the fifties is correct in my opinion, given the number of titles (both national and international) of the game and the fact that three Czech players were amongst the world's elite. It makes you wonder though: what would happen (and let's hope it never will) if the complete Fulham team would get killed by a plane crash? Would they be allowed to stay in the Premier League, regardless of the fact that they don't have a first team due to unforeseen circumstances? Would their points gathered be scrapped? It isn't something you think of often, but I do wonder...

[Pata]

This is the 3rd such tragedy to hit Soviet/Russian sport. The VVS Moscow ice hockey team were killed in a crash in 1950, though the star player Vsevolod Bobrov was not on the plane as he overslept. In 1979 the Pakhtakor Tashkent football (also en route to Minsk) were all killed in a mid-air collision.
Obviously, the Russian sport is in a state of shock. Investigation under way. What has emerged is that the charter company responsible for the plan were apparently rated the worst in Russia in 2009. The plane itself underwent a safety check 3 weeks ago and had one of its engines changed.
This comes less than 3 months after an old Tu-134 went down on approach to Petrozavodsk airport with 44 fatalities, one of the top Russian football refs amongst. The airline responsible were suspended in the aftermath.

[sipwell]

This is the 3rd such tragedy to hit Soviet/Russian sport. The VVS Moscow ice hockey team were killed in a crash in 1950, though the star player Vsevolod Bobrov was not on the plane as he overslept. In 1979 the Pakhtakor Tashkent football (also en route to Minsk) were all killed in a mid-air collision.
Obviously, the Russian sport is in a state of shock. Investigation under way. What has emerged is that the charter company responsible for the plan were apparently rated the worst in Russia in 2009. The plane itself underwent a safety check 3 weeks ago and had one of its engines changed.
This comes less than 3 months after an old Tu-134 went down on approach to Petrozavodsk airport with 44 fatalities, one of the top Russian football refs amongst. The airline responsible were suspended in the aftermath.

Tragic for all the involved families. I remember that when Belgium played a friendly against Russia in 2010, the plane they used (and all were scared enormously) crashed some weeks later. It says something about the quality of the Russian airplanes...

[Blingo]

RIP.

[Pata]

This is the 3rd such tragedy to hit Soviet/Russian sport. The VVS Moscow ice hockey team were killed in a crash in 1950, though the star player Vsevolod Bobrov was not on the plane as he overslept. In 1979 the Pakhtakor Tashkent football (also en route to Minsk) were all killed in a mid-air collision.
Obviously, the Russian sport is in a state of shock. Investigation under way. What has emerged is that the charter company responsible for the plan were apparently rated the worst in Russia in 2009. The plane itself underwent a safety check 3 weeks ago and had one of its engines changed.
This comes less than 3 months after an old Tu-134 went down on approach to Petrozavodsk airport with 44 fatalities, one of the top Russian football refs amongst. The airline responsible were suspended in the aftermath.

Tragic for all the involved families. I remember that when Belgium played a friendly against Russia in 2010, the plane they used (and all were scared enormously) crashed some weeks later. It says something about the quality of the Russian airplanes...

The Belgians flew with Tu-154M, which IIRC was chartered from Dagestan Airlines*. That particular modification went into production in 1984 and was produced for about 20 years, if I am not mistaken. That particular plane was overhauled in 2009 but all of its engines eventually failed when it crashed, obviously raising questions about maintenance standards - one of the problems in Russia at the moment is the lack of properly qualified maintenance staff, the result of the messy 1990s. The proliferation of a load of random airlines has also led to a drop in safety standards. Add to this the ageing fleet and the fact that it's difficult to get parts for them - if I understand correctly, Yak-42 (the one that crashed yesterday) parts are no longer produced by the factory that made the planes. So, you get a whole cocktail of things that could go wrong. There is now talk of limiting the number of airlines for long-haul flights (>1000 miles) to 15 (effectively, only those with a fleet of over 20 aircraft).

*I was reading a blog entry by one of the NTV+ (Russian Sky footy-wise) commentators who flew with them to commentate in Makhachkala and Grozny and he was a bit "errrrr... this plane doesn't feel too safe".

[clintclintdeuce]

Detroits old assistant coach was on that plane. Very sad news.

[AmericanJames]

Very sad indeed, Detroit had 3 connections to people aboard (the head coach Brad Mcrimmion (also a former Wings player), former player Ruslan Salei and prospect Stephan Liv (the goalie Nick the Swede mentioned)). Very sobering and heartbreaking to all involved in the hockey world. Makes me extremely thankful for the air maintenance standards in the US after all of the flying all over the country I had done to play in tournements and games.

[Pata]

McCrimmon also played in the first Stanley Cup final series (1989) to be shown on telly in its entirety in the USSR, when the Flames beat the Canadiens.