Russian team in plane crash!

[Primis]

Just awful, terrible. As EHMers we probably have more of a familiarity than most (outside of the KHL anyways) with these players. Vitaly Anikeenko was on there for instance -- I firmly remember when he was a highly-touted NHL prospect pre-draft, and him becoming a cornerstone d-man for teams in EHM for a while.

The plane that crashed was apparently declared unfit for flying by European authorities some time ago, but they'd continued using it anyways. This is a perfect example of why there are standards...

What a shame.

[YZG]

Even worse is that Russian authorities had actually announced some time before that those Yakovlev planes would be taken out of service in 2012. Why can't such decisions be effective right away?? Perhaps this catastrophe and it's widespread shockwave will force Russian authorities to upgrade their standards and totally review their flight behaviours. In an interview, goaltender Yann Danis said that during his one year stay with Amur, the team plane would often take flight in dismal weather conditions. This, and flying with unfit planes, is the kind of risks that shouldn't be taken.

I've felt sick all day long with this story. I don't want to imagine how Aleksandr Galimov will feel when he recovers and realizes what happened.

Земля тебе пухом, Локо.

- YZG

[McQwak]

I've felt sick all day long with this story. I don't want to imagine how Aleksandr Galimov will feel when he recovers and realizes what happened.

Did he survive? According to czech news, Galimov died 3 hours after the crash in hospital.

[Alessandro]

Galimov is alive. In tough conditions, but alive

[joehelmer]

http://www.eliteprospects.com/team.php?team=191

It's very depressing to see that roster now.

[Círyatan]

This is terrible news. Couldn't believe it when I heard it, and I was devastated when comprehension finally kicked in.

So many young, wonderful people... My thoughts and prayers go to the families of those lost, as I cannot even begin to imagine what they must be going through right now.

Stefan Liv, Swedish goalkeeper, was born some 15 km from where I live, and I always rooted for him to finally make it to the NHL. And the city Yaroslavl - Jarosław in Polish - and I share the same name, so I kind of always had a special feeling for the team.

Rest in peace, brothers.

[Valkoon]

So sad. RIP team

[philou21]

Even worse is that Russian authorities had actually announced some time before that those Yakovlev planes would be taken out of service in 2012. Why can't such decisions be effective right away??
- YZG

Well I think it's simply because when you decide to change those planes you need the others to be built so that's why they said that. Alot of persons/organizations are complaining about the poor planes in Russia but the plane they were in was only built in 1993, that's not old for a plane at all. Plus, as someone said, the Lokomotiv was one of the team with the most money so why they will rent a plane that is old and unsafe? I will wait for an investigation, and see what really causes this plane to crash before speaking against the quality of the plane. There's a high chance that the pilot made an error and didn't lift the plane enough which cause the crash.


They already talking about rebuilding the team. Medvedev declared that each team will free 2-3 players for the Lokomotiv. They already have a list of 35 players willing to play for the team.

[Primis]

I will wait for an investigation, and see what really causes this plane to crash before speaking against the quality of the plane. There's a high chance that the pilot made an error and didn't lift the plane enough which cause the crash.

That's highly unlikely since witnesses are saying the engine(s) sounded like they were having major problems while in the air, and there's speculation the plane fell apart or even exploded BEFORE impact based on the impact zone and witnesses. It''s Russia though so I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to pin the blame on the dead pilots instead of having to take the heat themselves.

It doesn't matter if the planes were 20 years old or 2, they did not meet Euro air standards, which says enough I think.

[joehelmer]

This model is not cleared to fly to the European Union area because of the quality of the planes and I also heard that the teams are reluctant to hire these planes, but at the same time there isn't many other models of this size in Russia as far as I know.
And since 1982 this model has been in 9 accidents, more than any other plane model.

[philou21]

Why a company would built planes who are not "legal"? They can't do that lol It's more a bad maintenance than anything else. I never read anywhere about witnesses saying that the engine was souding weird. I only read that the plane hit an antenna at the end of the track because it wasn't high enough, so that's maybe what causes the plane to exploded or fell apart. Anyway, we can't argue only on what people have saw, there can be 1000 different version. I'll wait the investigation.

[Alessandro]

The airplane was banned from the EU due to the noisy engines

[Danny]

The plane lacked safety systems (TAWS) that are required by the EU, according to my own research, but I wouldn't object to links to sources proving me wrong. Of course, Russia not being a part of the EU makes the "legal" debate redundant anyway.

[Stastny26]

Now there is a requiem for all those who died in a plane crash.
Lokomotiv president said that the team have to be restored, but it should be as strong as the current team, it takes time and so in this season the team Lokomotiv will not participate in the KHL. From next season the team has to be restored.

[YZG]

I agree that the best hommage that can be paid to these guys is to build another top level team that can compete for the Gagarin Cup and bring it home. As such, it can't be done in a matter of days; in any case, I don't think it would have been respectful for the deceased players to be replaced like that within days.

The league announced that the Opening Cup would be renamed Lokomotiv Cup in their honour. This is a nice idea

- YZG

[Stastny26]

Alexander Galimov this morning has died in hospital ...

[philou21]

Honestly I was sure it would happen and I think that if he would've survive that he wouldn't be in such a great shape. I think he is way better where he is now. RIP

[archibalduk]

Crikey this is really sickening. It reminds me of the the Munich air disaster where half of the Manchester United football/soccer team died in the 1960s. I recognise a lot of those players as very talented players either from watching the NHL or from playing EHM.

Demitra was one of my all-time favourite signings since EHM 2004. Not that that bears any relevance, but it's just one of my fond memories of him.

So many players have died over the summer - mostly from this disaster but also from suicide.

[YZG]

Yes... it's got to be the most tragic summer ever in the world of hockey. Probably even worse than when the VVS Moskva or Czerchoslovak National Team planes crashed many decades ago - rosters and staff were much smaller back then, and as far as the VVS crash goes, there were survivors (them being Vsevolod Bobrov and Viktor Shuvalov; the former missed the plane and went by rail, the latter was injured). These were a very talented group of guys, and I'm sure, a bunch of very nice persons in everyday's life as well.

As Philou said, it's probably best for Galimov to be deceased as well. The crushing physical and emotional pain that would have followed would have been a terribly heavy burden to carry. RIP Aleksandr

- YZG

[philou21]

Jaroslav Halak will have a portrait of Demitra on his mask next season. http://www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/326443.html Really cool IMO.