In the 1940s, Torino were the giants of Italian football. The best for that confirmation - three championship titles of the "Grenade Squadron" from 1946 to 1948. On May 4, 1949, Torino football players were returning from an away match with the Portuguese Benfica to Turin on a three-engine Fiat plane. The plane made an intermediate landing in Barcelona for refueling, during which the Torino players talked with the Milan players who were transferring to a flight to Madrid. The Rossoneri were the last to capture the Turin team alive.
Closer to five in the evening, when only a few kilometers remained from Turin, the airliner entered a dense strip of fog. The pilot lost orientation, the plane descended and the left wing touched the fence of the Superga Basilica located on the hill. The car spun and crashed into the ground at high speed. All 18 football players on board, including the captain of the Italian national team Valentino Mazzola, were killed in the disaster. Fate favored only one Torino player - Lauro Toma. Due to injury, he was forced to stay at home. By the way, “Torino” with its youth team retained the first place in the standings.
Manchester United. February 6, 1958
On this fateful day, British European Airways charter flight BE609 from Belgrade to Manchester stopped to refuel in Munich. On board there were 21 representatives of the English football club Manchester United, returning home after the return match of the European Cup quarter-finals with Red Star Belgrade.
The pilots made two attempts to take off, but both times were stopped due to engine problems. However, not wanting to fall behind schedule, they decided to give it one more try. The snowfall that started couldn't stop them either. Irish striker Liam Whelan responded to the pilots' eagerness: "It may be death, but I'm ready for it."
The pilots desperately tried to lift the plane off the ground, but it, having driven its wheels into the snow porridge, continued to rush along the runway. At a speed of almost 200 km/h, the plane rammed a fence and crashed into a private house.
By luck, the residents were not injured, but of the 44 people on board the plane, 23 were killed and another 19 were injured. Manchester United lost eight players (including Liam Whelan) and three members in the disaster coaching staff. Among the survivors was Bobby Charlton, future star English football, - at the time of the accident he was thrown out of the cabin along with the seat.
"Strongest". September 26, 1969
On the evening of Friday September 26, 1969, the Bolivian football club Strongest was returning by plane to La Paz after a friendly game. This was the best period in the history of one of the oldest football clubs in Bolivia.
After several hours of flight, the Douglas crew stopped communicating. At this time, a snow front hit the Andes, and dispatchers hastened to declare an emergency. Only a day later, in the heart of the Andes, not far from the town of Viloko on the slope of Mount Choquetanga, a group of miners discovered the wreckage of the plane, and a day later a search team arrived there.
It was never possible to establish the cause of the disaster. But it is worth noting that the tragedy happened on the day when a military coup took place in the country. All 74 people on board died, 19 of them were players and coaches of the Strongest club. Five years later, the updated “Strongest” again won the Bolivian championship.
"Pakhtakor". August 11, 1979
One of the worst disasters in the history of Soviet aviation occurred in the skies over the Ukrainian Dneprodzerzhinsk on August 11, 1979. On that day, due to the fault of air traffic controllers (however, the version of a training missile hit is also tenable), two Aeroflot TU-134 passenger aircraft collided. One of the planes was flying Voronezh - Chisinau, the other - Tashkent - Minsk. Popular in the USSR flew in the latter football team"Pakhtakor" for the next match of the national championship with "Dynamo" Minsk.
None of the 178 people on both planes survived. If the plane heading to Chisinau immediately disintegrated in the air, then the plane flying to Minsk, having lost its tail, part of the right wing and one of the engines, still tried to make an emergency landing, but at an altitude of 4 kilometers entered a steep dive and crashed to the ground. There were 14 players and three representatives of the coaching staff of the Tashkent Pakhtakor.
Year: 1949
Dead: 31 people
Survivors: No
In the forties, the Turin "bulls" were the strongest club Italy and one of the strongest in Europe. From 1942 to 1949, Grande Torino was the undisputed champion of Serie A, if you do not take into account the 1944 tournament, which was not recognized as official. At the time of the tragedy, 10 players of the national team were playing in the “burgundy” squad, including the captain of the “Azzurra squad” V. Mazzola.
On May 4, 1949, the team was returning home after a friendly game with Benfica, which took place in the capital of Portugal. After taking off from Lisbon, the plane with the players on board landed in Barcelona to replenish its fuel supply. In the capital of Catalonia, Torino players met with Milan players who were heading to Madrid, and as it turned out later, the Rossoneri representatives were the last to see the Burgundy ones alive. On approach to the destination, due to increased fog, the pilot lost control of the aircraft and descended below the permissible limit, which is why the left wing touched the basilica built on a hill. As a result of this contact, the aircraft turned around and high speed the side crashed into the ground. Of the 28 passengers (18 football players) and 4 crew members, none survived.
This tragedy had a major impact on Italian football. It took the Italian national team almost two decades to return to the elite of European football, and Torino forever lost its status as a top club.
Manchester United
Year: 1958
Dead: 23 people
Survivors: 21 people
Having won the English Championship in 1956, Manchester United, with the help of their coach Matt Busby, achieved permission to participate in the Champions Cup and became the first English club to play in a major European Cup. In the 1956/57 season, the Mancunians reached the semi-finals of the Championship, and again won gold in the English Championship. The next season also started successfully for Manchester United. Busby's team was in a leading position in the domestic championship, and reached the quarterfinals in the CC.
In the quarter finals of CC 57/58, Manchester United had to play a two-game duel with Red Star. The first meeting took place on January 14 in England and the Mancunians won it with a score of 2:1. The return game took place on February 5 in Belgrade and the match ended in a productive draw with a score of 3:3, which brought Busby's charges to the second semi-final of the CC in a row.
Returning from Belgrade, the plane with the crew on board landed in Munich for refueling. Having replenished fuel supplies, the plane was supposed to immediately fly to Manchester, but the takeoff was canceled due to engine problems. By that time, it was snowing heavily and visibility had decreased, but the ship’s commander decided to make another takeoff attempt, despite the existing problems. Having reached the runway, the plane with Manchester United on board accelerated to a speed of 217 km/h, at which it was no longer possible to cancel the takeoff, but the pilots were unable to lift the car into the air. Having left the runway, the plane rammed the runway fence at high speed and crashed into a residential building. The crash killed 8 football players, three members of the coaching staff and ten other passengers. Among the survivors were club coach Busby and striker Bobby Charlton, as well as other football players.
Despite the death of eight players and injuries received by the rest of the team, Manchester United was able to finish the season and took second place in the English Championship, and the Mancunians lost to Milan in the semi-finals of the Championship. 10 years after the tragedy in Munich, Busby will lead Manchester United to their first European club champion title, and Charlton, playing under his leadership, will receive the Golden Ball.
Danish Olympic team
Year: 1960
Dead: 23 people
Survivors: 21 people
In 1960, summer events were held in Rome Olympic Games, and the Danish team was one of the participants in the Olympic football tournament. On July 16, eight members of the Danish Olympic team took off from Copenhagen in a small Havilland DH89 Dragon Rapide, flown by 27-year-old pilot Stig Vindelev. A few minutes after takeoff, the pilot lost the horizon in poor visibility conditions and the plane crashed into the water 50 meters from the shore near the city of Oresund.
Among the survivors were only pilot Vindelev and 21-year-old goalkeeper Per Funk Jensen, but the latter died on the way to the hospital. As a result of the disaster, Vindelev lost his leg and never sat at the controls of an airplane again, becoming a physics teacher and inventor.
Immediately after the plane crash, the Danish Football Association decided to withdraw its team from the 1960 Olympic Games, but then this decision was reversed and the Danish team won silver at the Olympics.
Year: 1961
Dead: 24 people
Survivors: No
In the spring of 1961, Chilean football lost the Green Cross team. On April 3, a Douglas C 47A carrying the club's football players and coaches took off from the city of Castro for Santiago, crashed in the Cordillera, killing all 24 people on board. The wreckage of the plane that crashed in Chile was found only in 2015. The search expedition discovered only part of the plane, which by that time was covered with a layer of earth and was not visible from the air.
Year: 1969
Dead: 74 people
Survivors: No
In 1969, the Bolivian club Strongest was returning to La Paz from the city of Santa Cruz, where an international friendly tournament was being held. The team was on board a Douglas DC-6B aircraft, which, including the players and coaches, carried 69 passengers. On September 26 at 14:10 local time, despite heavy snowfall, the plane left Santa Cruz airport and headed towards the Andes. 2 hours and 20 minutes after takeoff, the plane stopped communicating, after which a search operation was announced. The wreckage of the plane was discovered on the same day by a group of miners from the small village of Violko and a rescue team headed to the crash site. Upon arrival, rescuers discovered that of the 74 people on board, there were no survivors.
Based on the results of the examination, it was determined that the cause of the tragedy could have been a fire. The pilots tried to make an emergency landing, but due to poor visibility caused by smoke and heavy snowfall, they crashed into the side of a mountain.
The plane on board of which, among other passengers, was Brazilian football team Chapecoense, crashed on November 29. The footballers were heading to the city of Medellin, where the final match of the Copa Sudamericana against Atlético Nacional was to take place. According to the latest data, out of 72 passengers and 9 crew members who were on board, six people survived. Photos and videos appear on the Internet that were taken before departure and in the cabin of the plane.
The tragedy occurred in the province of Anticoia in the La Union region, 50 kilometers from the city of Medellin. After it became known that there had been a plane crash, assistance was sent to the crash site. Access to the crash site and rescue operation was difficult due to unfavorable weather conditions - heavy rain. Six survivors were found at the scene.
According to preliminary data, the plane crashed either due to a lack of fuel or due to problems with electrical equipment. Experts note that the plane used up all its fuel, which is why it did not explode and there were survivors. Experts also suggest that the crew of the plane deliberately circled over the area and used up all the fuel so that the plane would not explode during the fall. The aircraft broke into two parts. After hitting the ground, 75 people died. According to press reports, flight attendant Ximena Suarez, journalist Rafael Enzel, as well as four Chapecoense players survived: defender Alan Ruschel, goalkeepers Marcos Danilo and Jackson Folman and an unnamed football player. Later, information appeared in the media that another living player had been found - Neto, the team's defender.
After the tragedy, the President of Brazil declared three days of mourning. In the city of Chapeco, mourning will last 30 days.
Plane crash in Colombia November 29, 2016 video
Plane crash with Brazilian football players in Colombia 11/29/2016 photo
On September 7, 2011, a Yak-42 aircraft of Yak Service airlines crashed during takeoff from Tunoshna airport in the Yaroslavl region. On board the plane was hockey team"Lokomotiv" (Yaroslavl), which flew to the match in Minsk. According to preliminary data, there were people on board.
July 15, 2009 In the north-west of Iran, a Tu-154M plane of the Iranian airline Caspian Airlines crashed while flying from Tehran to Yerevan. On board the plane was the Iranian youth judo team. The athletes flew to Armenia for training and then had to fly to Hungary to participate in competitions. All 168 people on this flight died.
August 24, 2008 A Boeing 737 plane, en route from Bishkek to Tehran, crashed in Kyrgyzstan. There were 90 people on board the plane, including 17 members of the Iranian youth volleyball team. Ten of them died. 25 passengers and crew members managed to escape.
April 27, 1993 Near Gabon (Africa), a DHC-5 Buffalo plane carrying members of the Zambian football team crashed into the sea as a result of engine failure. A total of 30 people died, including 18 football players.
June 7, 1989 at the airport of the capital of Suriname Paramaribo ( South America) a DC-8-60 series plane crashed, killing 23 Dutch football players of Surinamese origin who were on board the crashed plane. A total of 176 people (out of 187 passengers and crew) were killed.
December 8, 1987 near the city of Lima (Peru) as a result of explosions on board an F‑27 aircraft in in full force The Alliance football team died. The bodies of the victims could not be found because the plane crashed into the sea. It is known that there were 43 people on the plane.
March 14, 1980 In the plane crash of a Polish IL-62 plane near Warsaw (Poland), 22 members of the US national boxing team were killed.
August 11, 1979 over the city of Dneprodzerzhinsk (Ukraine), a Tu-134 plane flying from Tashkent to Minsk collided with a plane flying from Chelyabinsk to Chisinau. 178 people died (165 passengers and 13 crew members), from Uzbekistan, which was competing in the major league. The team flew to Minsk to play with local Dynamo.
November 29, 1975 Formula 1 racing team Embassy Racing with Graham Hill, pilot Graham Hill, died in a plane crash. The six-seater Piper Aztec plane, on which the team was returning from racing in France to London, crashed and burned during landing.
October 13, 1972 In the Andes, on the way to the capital of Chile, Santiago, part of the rugby team from Montevideo (Uruguay) died in a plane crash.
In total, there were 45 people on board the FH-227 aircraft, 16 of whom survived.
December 31, 1970 in a plane crash, the entire amateur football team from Algeria, Air Liquid, was killed on its way to friendly match to Spain.
November 14, 1970 In Virginia (USA), 37 players from the Marshall University team (Huntington, West Virginia) were killed in a plane crash. American football. In addition to the athletes, there were members of the coaching staff, fans, and the head of the sports department on board the plane (75 people in total). No one survived.
April 1, 1970 An An-24 passenger plane crashed near Krasnoyarsk. All passengers (including the youth volleyball team) and crew members were killed.
September 26, 1969 In the Andes, on the way to La Paz (Bolivia), a plane carrying 25 players from the Bolivian football team Strongest crashed. 19 football players and club leaders were killed.
April 3, 1961 A Douglas C‑47A plane crashed in the Cordilleras (Chile). As a result of the disaster, everyone on board died - the Chilean football team "Green Cross" and crew members (24 people).
February 15, 1961 While landing in Belgium, a Sabena Boeing 707 crashed while flying on the New York-Brussels route. All 72 people on board, as well as one person on the ground, were killed. The disaster killed the US figure skating team (34 athletes and coaches), which was heading to the World Championships in Prague (Czechoslovakia). World Championship figure skating 1961 was canceled as a sign of grief for the victims.
February 6, 1958 At Munich Airport (Germany), a plane carrying football players from the English team Manchester United crashed while trying to take off. A total of 23 people on board died, including 8 athletes, a coach, a team secretary, one of the directors of Manchester United and eight sports correspondents.
January 5, 1950 During the third landing in difficult weather conditions, a Li-2 plane crashed in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). 8 hockey players of the USSR Air Force team died, as well as a coach, doctor and massage therapist.
May 4, 1949 As a result of a plane crash near Turin (Italy), the entire team of the Torino football club and everyone else on board the plane (including journalists, officials, and coach) were killed. A total of 31 people died.
November 18, 1948 In a plane crash over the English Channel, 6 leading hockey players of the Czechoslovak national team (goalkeeper, defenders and forwards) were killed.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
