Tragic hockey offseason continues

[dteowner]

After losing 3 enforcers this offseason, it somehow manages to get even worse.
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MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian jet carrying a local ice hockey team crashed Wednesday while taking off in western Russia, killing 36 people and leaving one critically injured, officials said.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 plane crashed immediately after taking off from an airport near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River about 240 kilometers (150 miles) northeast of Moscow. It said one person survived the crash with grave injuries.

The ministry said the plane was carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl.

The team was heading to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Continental Hockey League. The CHL is a league of several ex-Soviet nations.

http://www.google.co...6194c35014bfee7

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Several guys with NHL and/or Wings ties, including Ruslan Salei (who just had a kid a few months back), Stefan Liv, Pavol Demitra, and coach Brad McCrimmon. Updated reports are that 2 people survived, one player and one airplane crew member.

Very sad.

 

[GothicGothicness]

yes such a sad news my thoughts are with the families.

 

[Tanno]

Not a hockey fan, but R.I.P.

I remember a similar accident a while back with some politicians there. I wonder something. Do the Russian planes break down this easily?

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

A really bad thing, imho. One news report says the plane caught the top of an antenna ...

 

[Thrasher]

I wonder if the pilot was drunk?

 

[Tanno]

I wonder if the pilot was drunk?

I doubt it. The pilots NEVER get drunk before the flight, so it must be the plane's technical problem to crash itself like this. :/

 

[dteowner]

Do the Russian planes break down this easily?

Yes, actually they do. "Cheap" designs backed with horrible maintenance, by all reports. The sketchy info I've seen so far is that this particular incident wasn't a mechanical failure, though.

 

[Thrasher]

The pilots NEVER get drunk before the flight

drunk pilot

"I don't think there's anyone in Russia who doesn't know what a drunk person looks like."

 

[Corwin]

A sad day for my favourite sport. Russian planes have been a joke/disaster waiting to happen for as long as I can recall, and on a good day, that's a LONG time!!

 

[Lucky Day]

After losing 3 enforcers this offseason, it somehow manages to get even worse.
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People are forgetting Tom Cavanagh the former Shark who took his own life in mid-January. He was only 28.

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That makes two former Canucks gone this off-season with Rick Rypien taking his own life (he had battled serious depression for years) and now Slovak great Pavel Demitra.

I don't think I've seen any player dominate the cycle like Pavel until Henrik and Daniel. In my first hockey pool 22 years ago I had him and I've been a fan ever since.

Tragic day for my favourite sport.

In addition the Sydney Crosby rumours keep getting weird, as Syd came out in a press conference with two doctors explaining his condition.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=375308

This is supposed to be hockey's year with the NBA likely to lose its entire season over contract issues. This is no way to start it!

 

[Warmark]

Really sad day, I got a chance to shake Pavel Demitra's hand at a Canucks meet and greet event a few years ago, he was very friendly and a hell of a hockey player, just was hurt so often while in Vancouver he never got to play at his very best.

 

[JDR13]

CBS has a story about it here. http://www.cbssports.com/#!/nhl/story/15541685/russian-jet-carrying-hockey-team-crashes-36-dead

It was even worse than what was first reported. The death toll now stands at 43 (out of 45 people aboard the plane)

The plane apparently struggled to gain altitude and then hit a signal tower before breaking apart along the Volga River near Yaroslavl, 150 miles northeast of Moscow.

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 age of the aircraft, weak government controls, poor pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality.

 

[dteowner]

I think the 36/37 number originally reported just considered the team. The revision became necessary since one of the crew members also survived. There were 8 crew members, which pushes the total to the 43/45 now being reported. Apparently, the outlook for the 2 survivors isn't very good. The remaining player has 3rd degree burns over 80% of his body, which is usually fatal within a couple weeks. Haven't seen any details on the crewman, but he was reported as critical condition.

 

[dteowner]

As most of y'all probably know, the last player died of his injuries last week. The crewman continues to hold on. Lokomotiv isn't going to play this year.

Yet another sad moment for the offseason...
RIP, Earl Cook. Cancer finally beat him high glove.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86vGL46CzZY&feature=related

 

[Warmark]

As most of y'all probably know, the last player died of his injuries last week. The crewman continues to hold on. Lokomotiv isn't going to play this year.

Yet another sad moment for the offseason…
RIP, Earl Cook. Cancer finally beat him high glove.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86vGL46CzZY&feature=related

I saw Earl's story awhile back, sad to hear he passed but he was an inspiring young man while he was here. Peace, Earl.

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

The press said a few days ago that indeed the pilot had been drunk.

 

[JDR13]

There's been nothing said about anyone being drunk in that incident.

You're probably mixing it up with this recently released newsbit. http://www.newsenvoy.com/en/Pilot+o...hwestern+Russia+in+June+was+drunk_n:16032.htm

Different crash.

 

[dteowner]

Everything I've seen except for one report makes it seem like this was a "shit happens" kinda crash. The lone exception said that the runway had been temporarily shortened (end blocked off) to make secured landing space for an incoming jet carrying some high-placed political figure, meaning the Lokomotiv plane had to get off the ground before it really had sufficient lift speed. No way for an English speaker to get any sort of independent confirmation and I'd think that sort of thing would get blown wide open anyway, so I'm guessing it was a tinfoil hatter making things up.

Turns out there's a fairly extensive wiki here.

On 17 September, the MAK released further information from its investigation. The plane started on the runway with approximate usable length of 2,700 metres (8,900 ft) from its starting position. The plane started down the runway with engines at nominal speed. After six seconds, the engines were revved up to take-off speed. Despite the increase of engine output, the plane did not increase in speed as expected. The Committee report speculates that this could have been due to some braking force, and the committee will send the remains of the plane's braking systems to a "specialized institution" for special study. The plane reached a maximum speed of 230 km/h. It did not raise off the ground until some 400 metres after the end of the runway. It then hit the airport beacon. The plane did not go more than 5-6 metres off the ground. It hit the beacon, deflected to the left and impacted the ground. The flaps and slats were in take-off position, spoilers retracted, and the stabilizer in a ten degree position. The elevator controls were still connected.[57]

This is the latest update I could find on Sizov's condition, but it's over a week old.
Source

Alexander Sizov's condition has improved to "relatively satisfactory," Moscow Health Department chief Leonid Pechatnikov said, Interfax reported on Wednesday. Pechatnikov said he was confident that Sizov would return to a "normal professional life."

 

[Tanno]

At least there's only one survivor, this engineer. I hope then that we can learn of how exactly did it happen.

 

[dteowner]

One source is calling Sizov a "flight engineer" which would put him in the cockpit. Another source calls him a "flight attendant" which would put him in the cabin and probably lacking much information on the crash. I haven't been able to resolve that difference of translation yet. You'd probably have to read the original Russian text to find enough context to figure it out.