At least 43 people perished, including members of a top Russian ice hockey team, in a plane crash Wednesday. The Associated Press characterized the accident as “one of the worse plane crashes ever involving a sports team.”
http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2011/09/jet_carrying_russian_hockey_te.html
Pro hockey circles and Russia were rocked by the crash of the private Russian jet shortly after its takeoff in Russia, en route from Yaroslavi to Minsk.
Twenty seven members of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavi team, as well as two coaches and seven club executives, died in the crash, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation. The hockey player Alexander Galimov and a crew member were the only survivors, but were in critical condition, according to AP.
Weather was not a factor in the accident, as it was sunny at the time. Authorities suspect there were mechanical problems. The Yak-42 jet took off but then had problems gaining altitude, hitting a signal tower and breaking apart, AP reported. The plane ended up on the edge of the Volga River.
The Russian team had several members who were veterans of the National Hockey League. They included the coach, the Canadian Brad McCrimmon, and Pavol Demitra, a former player with the St. Louis Blues and the Vancouver Canucks.