Almost the entire main team of the Brazilian football club Chapecoense, heading to the Colombian Medellin for the first final match of the Copa Sudamericana with Atlético Nacional, died in a plane crash that occurred on Tuesday night over Colombian territory. There were 81 people on board, including Chapecoense players, team support staff, journalists and crew members. However, by some miracle, five of them managed to survive. This may help to quickly determine the causes of the tragedy. On at the moment There are two main versions: electronics failure and fuel depletion.
Catastrophe
On Monday night, about 30 km from Medellin, a BAe 146 plane of the Bolivian airline LaMia crashed. There were a total of 81 people on board, including almost the entire core team of the Brazilian football club Chapecoense, which was heading to Medellin, where the first final match of the Copa Sudamericana (the second most important club tournament) was scheduled for December 1 South America after the Copa Libertadores), in which the Brazilians had to face the Colombian Atlético Nacional. In addition to the players, coaches and members of the team's staff, there were also 21 journalists and nine crew members on board.
According to Colombian authorities, at approximately 22:00 local time, the crew of the ship, at that time located at an altitude of approximately 4,500 m, issued a distress signal. He soon disappeared from radar. The rescuers, taking into account the circumstances, in particular the fact that the plane crashed in a mountainous and wooded area, as well as the fact that there was heavy rain in the crash zone, managed to arrive at the scene of the disaster quite quickly. It soon became clear that there were survivors of the plane crash. Among them were two team goalkeepers - Danilo and Jackson Follman, defenders Alan Ruschel and Elihu Zampier, as well as one of the journalists and a flight attendant.
The presence of survivors of the disaster allows us to hope that the investigation into the causes of the tragedy will proceed faster than usual. At the moment, Colombian authorities have practically ruled out the possibility of pilot error. This is prompted by the fact that the crew, even before the plane disappeared from the radar, managed to report that the plane’s electronic equipment was failing. In addition, a flight attendant who survived the crash reported that the flight was normal, but at some point all four engines stopped working at once. In his opinion, it looked like the plane simply ran out of fuel.
Note that the BAe 146 that crashed was produced in 1999. It has been in operation by LaMia Airlines since 2013, and during this time this particular aircraft regularly transported football teams, including the Argentina national team or Atlético Nacional. At the airport in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz, from where he was traveling (Brazilian aviation authorities did not give the Bolivian company permission to fly a charter flight to Colombia, citing the fact that such flights should be carried out by either Brazilian or Colombian carriers), they said that the pre-flight inspection did not reveal no problem.
After news of the disaster became known, Brazilian authorities declared three days of mourning in the country. In turn, the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) has canceled all matches played under its auspices until further notice. Of course, this also applies to the finals of the Copa Sudamericana, which now definitely will not take place. Well, it is possible that Chapecoense will be declared the winner. At least, the management of Atlético Nacional already made such a proposal yesterday.
Alexander Petrov
Athletes fly often - to competitions, training camps, and training sessions. And representatives of team sports also travel together. Therefore, numerous cases from history modern sports, when an entire sports team died in a plane crash, are statistically quite understandable. But this in no way diminishes the pain of family, friends and fans. Today we remember the most tragic plane crashes in the history of sports.
The death of Yaroslavl "Lokomotiv"
Yaroslavl "Lokomotiv" has not achieved much success for a decade, since the former head coach Vladimir Vuytek left the team in 2003, having received a more lucrative offer from ex-rivals - Kazan Ak Bars. This, however, did not prevent the team from starting each season with full dedication. At the start of the 2011–12 season, the team intended to follow the same course as a member of the Continental hockey league. But on September 7, 2011, during a flight to Minsk for the first game of the season, almost the entire team died in a plane crash. The Yak-42 plane, on which the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv was flying, crashed a few seconds after takeoff from the Yaroslavl Tunoshna airport. One of the team's star players was Alexander Galimov, through whose efforts the team won seven wins and two defeats in the pre-season matches. It was Galimov who scored the last goal in the Lokomotiv games before the plane crash. Galimov survived the crash, but died in hospital five days later. The remaining players, as well as the coaches and technical staff of the team, died on the spot, as did the rest of the passengers and crew members, with the exception of crew engineer Alexander Sizov. The cause of the disaster was considered to be an error by the crew, who, as it turned out, were not sufficiently prepared to fly on machines of this type.
The plane crash that changed wrestling
This plane crash resulted in serious injuries to those involved and ended two careers. However, if the injuries of those who survived had been more serious, the entire sports and entertainment industry would have changed beyond recognition. Aboard a private Cessna 310 jet from Charlotte to Wilmington, North Carolina on September 4, 1975, were promoter David Crocket and four wrestlers - Mr. Wrestling II, Bobby Bruges, Johnny Valentine and Ric Flair. The plane crash was the result of an error by the crew, who incorrectly calculated the amount of fuel. As the survivors admitted, when the plane began to fall, they were sure that this was the end. However, the crash resulted in only the pilot being killed, who died from his injuries two months later. Valentine was paralyzed and his career ended. Bruges also retired from the sport, although he retained the ability to walk. Why could this disaster change the face of the industry? The fact is that Flair and Valentine, according to legend, were the "bad guys" who feuded with Mr. Wrestling, and the industry for a long time tried to hide the truth about the disaster by not telling anyone about Mr. Wrestling's participation in that flight. He himself, fortunately, managed to support the cover legend - remaining alive and well, Mr. Wrestling entered the ring just two weeks after the accident.
Grand Torino plane crash
Italian, and perhaps world football, has never known a team with such undeniable superiority over its rivals as Grand Torino, the nickname given to the team of the Italian football club Torino in the 1940s. The team won five consecutive national cups and continued to win until a plane crash on May 4, 1949, claimed the lives of 18 players and 13 team employees. Grand Torino was a hand-picked team: the owner of the Torino club, Ferrucio Novo, was one of the first specialists in the world of sports to put the search for talent on a professional basis.
The Torino club won league titles from 1941 until 1949, with the exception of 1945-45, when the national championship was not held. In the 1949 championship, they were also considered the undisputed favorites until the day of the plane crash that occurred during the return of the players from a friendly game in Lisbon. The cause of the accident was the error of the pilot, who lost control in bad weather conditions. The National Football Federation ultimately decided to award the team the 1949 championship title as a sign of the highest justice: after all, if that unfortunate accident had not happened, the team would undoubtedly have received it.
Busby Babes plane crash in Munich
"The Busby Babes" who came to big football from the youth school, the students of Manchester United head coach Matt Busby were very young - they were all barely over twenty. However, students youth team Manchester, who had played together since childhood, were a close-knit professional team, and after joining the main team they won the English Championship twice - in the 1955-56 and 1956-57 seasons. The fans adored them not only for their talent, but also for the fact that they were all students of the club, and not players bought from other clubs, which was becoming fashionable at that time. Alas, their success was interrupted by a plane crash in Munich on February 6, 1958, in which eight key team players were killed and two more were seriously injured. The plane, trying to take off during a snowstorm, barely took off from the ground and soon crashed. The disaster made such a depressing impression on the British that even the Queen expressed personal condolences not only to the relatives and friends of the victims, but also to the people of England as a whole.
American figure skating team dies in plane crash
In 1961, figure skating was at the peak of its popularity in the United States. Leader of the national team figure skating, Lawrence Owen, even appeared on the eve of the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague on the cover of the most popular Sports Illustrated magazine. Two days after the magazine was published, Owen and the rest of the national team were tragically killed in a plane crash in Brussels. The plane carrying the skaters to Europe exploded during an abnormal landing. All 72 passengers, including the national team athletes and members of their families, died instantly. The only survivor was a dog flying in the luggage compartment. The figure skating world was shocked. The World Championships in Prague were canceled after news of the disaster, and the Americans were so shocked that they lost interest in figure skating for a long time, undermined by bad memories. Even President Kennedy was so shocked that his brother, Senator Robert Kennedy, spoke to the people on his behalf with words of condolences.
Death of the "Strongest"
It was not for nothing that the Bolivian team “The Strongest” had such a self-confident name: it really shone in the national championship for many years. In September 1969, the team flew to friendly match in Santa Cruz. Having played, the “Strongest” football players flew to their homeland, the city of La Paz, on a DC-6 plane on September 26, 1969. But it was on this day that a military coup took place in the country. In the confusion, the plane with the football players mysteriously disappeared from radar and was discovered only a day later, having crashed near the village of Viloko. All passengers - 81 people - were killed, including 17 football players, the team coach and manager, and a technical employee.
Death of the Marshall University American Football Team
For the small town of Huntington, West Virginia, 1970 was marked by the success of the local Marshall University team. American football"The Thundering Horde" Being a team local significance, "Horde" rarely traveled by plane, and the joint flight on November 14, 1970 was almost the first in its practice. The investigation was never able to figure out why the plane crashed. There were 37 team members on board, including 9 coaches, and a number of fans. Considering the number of deaths, this disaster is considered the largest tragedy in the history of American sports.
The death of "Pakhtakor"
The death of the Pakhtakor football team is perhaps the most famous tragedy in history. Soviet sports. Tashkent Pakhtakor was one of the most successful football teams in the USSR. On August 11, 1979, the team flew on a TU-134 Minsk plane to a meeting with Dynamo Minsk. The controller noticed too late that the plane was dangerously approaching another TU-134 in the air. He gave the planes the command to disperse, but the command was not accepted by the crews - and the wing of one of the planes pierced the fuselage of another. This caused both cars to explode in the air. All 178 passengers on both flights were killed, including 17 Pakhtakor players and coaches. According to rumors, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev flew on that day, which caused confusion on the air routes. Despite the tragedy, the surviving Pakhtakor players returned to the field just 12 days after the tragedy to continue playing in the USSR Championship, thus paying tribute to their fallen comrades.
Evansville Basketball Players Death
In 1977, the University of Evansville basketball team was preparing for a difficult start to the season. The team's main problem was the departure of coach Arad McCutcheon, who had worked with the team for many years. McCutcheon was very popular in Evansville: Time magazine even called him "the pride and passion" of the local basketball team. But the Purple Aces were not going to give up, although the season started poorly: three losses to one win. However, the team members were determined when they went to play the University of Central Tennessee on December 3, 1977. The flight was delayed for several hours due to bad weather conditions. When the plane did take off from the ground, it stayed in the air for only a minute and a half, after which it crashed to the ground. Among the causes of the disaster, it was later named, in particular, overloading of the luggage compartment. 17 crew members died in the disaster. The University of Evansville later opened a "Crying Basketball" memorial in honor of the victims.
Death of the Zambian national team
The 1993 Zambian football team was considered the best in the country's history. Football has always been popular in this African country, especially during the reign of President Kenneth Kaunda, who spared no expense in its development. After Kaunda's removal, there was less money, but the national team, despite poverty, remained one of the best in Africa. However, the team had to cut back on everything, including travel costs. To fly on qualifying match World Championship with the Senegal team in Dakar, the team had to rent a Zambian Air Force plane. Alas, the national air force was in a deplorable state. On April 27, 1993, during a flight, one of the plane's engines caught fire. The pilot made a fatal mistake by turning off the second engine, after which the plane completely lost control and crashed. All 18 players on board were killed.
American boxing team plane crash
As you know, the US team, among 65 countries in the world, boycotted the Moscow Olympics-80. However, the US boxing team would not have been able to take part in the event anyway. Olympic competitions due to a terrible plane crash that occurred on March 14, 1980, which claimed the lives of 14 athletes and 8 team members. The boxers were heading to a competition in Poland when their plane crashed on approach to Warsaw. A total of 87 passengers died in the disaster. Experts consider Pan American Games champion Lemuel Steeples to be the best of the crashed athletes.
Death of the "Eleven Motley"
These Dutch footballers of Surinamese origin were true humanitarians: they played in charity matches, thus raising funds to work with children from socially disadvantaged areas, involving them in sports and helping them find the right path in life. They were called "the motley eleven" - as a sign that they brought bright colors into the lives of children from the poorest families. In fact, there were more team members - only about two dozen people. The next charity match with their participation was to take place in the capital of Suriname, Paramaribo. But it did not take place: fifteen team players died in a plane crash in Paramaribo on June 7, 1989, which killed 176 passengers and crew members of a plane flying from Europe to South America. Two other members of the team, including Dutch football legend Ruud Gullit, abandoned the flight at the very last moment and were therefore saved. As it turned out later, the crash occurred due to the fact that the plane touched the top of a tree while landing at Paramaribo airport.
Hendrick Motosport team died in a plane crash
The death of a racer on the track, although rare, does happen, but the death of racers in a plane crash is an exceptional case. Meanwhile, it was exactly what happened on October 24, 2004, when 10 people from the Hendrick Motorsport team died in a plane crash, including the son of team owner Rick Hendrick, NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick, his older brother and nieces. On this day, the team successfully took part in competitions at the Marysville speedway. The message about the disaster, which claimed the lives of 10 people, came just minutes after the news of driver Jimmie Johnson's victory on the track. The cause of the crash would later be attributed to a combination of pilot error and foggy weather difficult to fly.
Oklahoma Cowboy plane crash
In November 2011, the Oklahoma women's basketball team lost head coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna. They and two other passengers were killed when a small private plane crashed while the coach and his assistant were returning home from a trip to recruit new players for their team. Kurt Budke was considered a real father by the girls on the basketball team, and his assistant was treated like a sister. In addition to them, State Senator Olin Branstetter and his wife Paula were killed in the crash. The most incredible thing is that after five years the commission investigating the disaster was unable to establish its cause. Senator Branstetter was at the controls of the plane and did not report turbulence or other weather-related problems to controllers. The version that the senator became ill and lost control of the car was also not confirmed. No technical faults were identified either. Why the plane crashed still remains a mystery.
Death of the Oklahoma Cowboys
The long history of tragedies associated with the University of Oklahoma began in January 2001, when 10 members of the university's men's basketball team were killed in a small private plane crash. The team was returning home after a loss to the Colorado Buffaloes to regroup and get ready for their next games. But the plane's pilot became disorientated during a snowstorm, and the plane crashed to the ground. Oklahoma Cowboys players and fans still remember the fallen players and coaches with the mournful anthem “Remember the Ten.” In addition, there is a memorial on campus in honor of those who died, and sports competitions are held every year in memory of those who died.
The tragedy happened in the morning, Moscow time, when the plane traveled most of the way to Medellin International Airport in the capital of Colombia, Bogota.
There were 81 people on board, of whom nine were crew members and 72 were passengers. Among the passengers were 27 Chapecoense football players, as well as members of the club delegation and journalists.
The exact number of victims has not been reported at the moment, and in the club’s Facebook group, fans leave messages on the wall with the hashtag “live.”
The actions of rescuers are complicated by the fact that the plane crashed in a mountainous area, but one of the Colombian hospitals has already reported the admission of five passengers who survived the accident, and then another five.
Radio station 360 Radio Colombia reported that the crew of the charter flight signaled to ground services that the fuel level was low. The pilot decided to make an emergency landing, but the plane did not reach the nearest airport and crashed in the La Union area, 37 km from its destination - the city of Medellin.
In addition, the first photos from the scene of the incident appeared online. One of them has an emblem Brazilian club.
According to the latest information, from ten to 16 people survived, and among them there are definitely three Chapecoense players: Alan Ruschel, Danilo Padilla and Jackson Vollman. It is reported that at least 25 people have already become victims of the tragedy.
The dispatchers became aware that the plane's electronics had failed even before the crash after a message from the pilot, who then circled over the ground for a long time, choosing a place for an emergency landing so that the plane would not explode on contact with the ground, which helped some passengers survive.
Chapecoense was founded in 1973, is a five-time champion of the state of Santa Catarina and is currently ranked ninth in the Brazilian Football Confederation rankings.
In 2013, the club from Chapeco, finishing second in Serie B, returned to the elite national division after 35 years.
It is interesting that first place in the Serie B championship that year was taken by the most titled Brazilian club, Palmeiras, which this season, one round before the finish of the championship, scored its ninth victory in the Brazilian national championship.
It was in the match against Chapecoense, which currently occupies ninth place in the championship table, that Palmeiras won the title, winning with a score of 1:0.
Chapecoense, after returning to the elite, took first 15th and then 14th place and, at the end of the 2015 season, qualified for the second most important club tournament in South America - the Sudamericana Cup.
According to the tournament regulations, Brazilian teams will start in the second stage with confrontations with their compatriots. To get into the main draw, Chapecoense had to overcome the resistance of Cuiaba from Serie C, which was done, although not without difficulty (0:1, 3:1).
In the main round, Chapecoense first faced Argentina's Independiente and advanced to the quarter-finals after two goalless draws and a penalty shootout victory.
In the quarterfinals, the Brazilian team beat the Colombian Junior (0:1, 3:0), and then in the semifinals, thanks to an away goal, they were stronger than the Argentine San Lorenzo (1:1, 0:0).
In the final, Chapecoense was scheduled to meet another Colombian team, Atlético Nacional. The first meeting was scheduled for November 30 and was to take place in the capital of Colombia, and on December 7 the rivals were to play in Chapeco.
The fate of the final is currently unknown, but, apparently, CONMEBOL (South American football confederation) the confrontation will be canceled, and the winner will not be revealed this year.
The most famous Chapecoense footballer is a midfielder who played for Atlético Madrid from 2007 to 2010.
The team's only foreign player, the 28-year-old Argentine, played 13 matches for the Spanish Villarreal in 2012, scoring one goal.
The most promising football player The team is a player of the Brazilian youth team, bought before the current season from Gremio by the German Hoffenheim, but loaned to Chapecoense.
Other news and materials can be viewed on the chronicles, as well as in the sports department groups on social networks
A plane crashed in Colombia with 81 people on board, most of them football players and employees of the Brazilian club Chapecoense, who were heading to the final match of the Copa Sudamericana. The airliner, which took off from Brazil, made an intermediate landing in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz, after which it headed to Medellin and crashed near the airport of this city. According to various sources, from six to ten people survived.
What happened?
The plane disappeared from radar while approaching the airport in the Colombian city of Medellin on Monday, November 28, at 22:15 local time (06:15 Tuesday Moscow time). It subsequently became known that he crashed in the Colombian province of Antioquia, near the Rionegro River. According to preliminary data, the aircraft commander informed dispatchers at Medellin Cordoba airport about a lack of fuel. The plane was given landing priority, but it was never able to land.
How many people were on board?
There were 72 passengers and nine crew members on board. Including football players of the Brazilian club Chapecoense, members of the team’s board, representatives coaching staff, team technical staff, as well as journalists. Among the club's football players are team captain Kleber Santana, who played for Atlético Madrid and Mallorca for four years, forward Alejandro Martinuccio (defended the colors of Villarreal in Spain), goalkeeper Marcelo Book (played for six years in Portugal for Marítima and "Sporting")
Survivors reported...
Initial information: everyone on the plane died. However, it soon became known that survivors had been found in the area of the plane crash, and 10 people were taken to local hospitals. Then they clarified that rescuers found six survivors, one of them died on the way to the hospital. Disasters continue at the scene rescue work. A list of all passengers has been published on social networks.
What is the main version of what happened?
The plane could have crashed due to lack of fuel.
What do you know about the football team?
Chapecoense is based in the city of Chapeco, located in the state of Santa Catarina in the south of the country. The club is quite young by football standards, founded in 1973. Debut in top division Brazil - Serie A - took place in 1978, but a year later the team lost its registration in the country's football elite and was able to return there only 35 years later - in 2014.
For two seasons in a row (2014, 2015), the team teetered on the brink of relegation, but remained in Serie A, taking 15th and 14th places, respectively, and the current championship turned out to be the most successful for the team - with 52 points for the round before the end of Chapecoense located in ninth place and has long protected itself from being demoted in class. The day before, the club lost away to Palmeiras, which won the Brazilian championship title ahead of schedule in the meeting with Chapecoense.
Where were the players heading?
The players flew to the Colombian city of Medellin, where the first (of two) final match of the Copa Sudamericana against the Colombian team Atlético Nacional was to take place. The game was scheduled for the evening of November 30 (night of December 1, Moscow time).
Plane crashes involving athletes
History knows several cases of death sports teams in plane crashes. In 2011, a Yak-42D plane crashed during takeoff near the Yaroslavl Tunoshna airport. hockey club"Locomotive". 26 players from the main team, five coaches and six members of the team’s technical staff were killed.
In 1979, two Tu-134 aircraft collided over Dneprodzerzhinsk, one of which was carrying 14 football players, the second coach, administrator and doctor of the Tashkent football club “Pakhtakor”. All of them died; in total, the tragedy claimed the lives of 178 people.
21 years earlier, an Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador plane with players and coaches of the famous Manchester United football club on board crashed during takeoff in Munich. Eight Red Devils players, the club secretary and two coaches were killed. Nine players survived, including Bobby Charlton, who later became a Manchester United legend. The team's head coach Matt Busby also managed to escape.
In 1950, while landing at Sverdlovsk Koltsovo airport, a Li-2 plane crashed. There were 13 members on board hockey team Air Force and 6 crew members. Everyone died. By luck, Vsevolod Bobrov, the main star of Russian football and hockey in the 1950s, was late for this plane.
