Russian plane carrying professional hockey team crashes
September 7, 2011, 05:58 pm
A Russian plane carrying the Kontinental Hockey League's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl crashed recently, killing at least 43, including 36 ice hockey players on the flight, bound for a game in Minsk, Belarus, according to the BBC. The flight was reportedly carrying 45 passengers and 8 crew members. An enormous number of friends, family and fellow professionals responded with sadness to the loss. Many of the players had participated in Olympic and professional competition around the world.
The crash is just one of several high-profile accidents that have shed light on the somewhat questionable aviation standards in Russia. This past June, a crash in Petrozavodsk killed 47. In April of 2010, a Russian-built plane serving in the Polish Air Force crashed near Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 on board, including the Polish President, Lech Kaczynski, his wife and several high-ranking members of the Polish government.
Many Russian aviation problems have been attributed to the age and quality of former Soviet aircraft still in use today. While several crashes have been ultimately attributed to pilot error, the reliability of Soviet planes is frequently called into question.
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