Air tragedies that tore apart sports teams

From the Manchester United team caught in the crash in Munich in 1958 to the Uruguayan rugby team immortalised in the film Alive, aircraft tragedies have claimed many sportsmen over the years, cutting short lives and careers.

Snow falls on the wreck of British European Airways Flight 609 which crashed on take-off at Munich, Germany, February 6, 1958. The BEA airplane crashed on its third attempt to takeoff from a slush-covered runway at the Munich-Riem airport. (AP Photo/File)Show less

Aircraft tragedies have claimed many sportsmen over the years, cutting short lives and careers.

1949: Torino FC were champions of Italy’s Serie A and are considered to be one of the best clubs in Italian football history. But 22 out of 23 members were killed on May 4 when the plane taking them home from Lisbon crashed into a mountain near Turin. The 23rd player was only spared because he was not on the flight.

1958: Eight Manchester United players were killed when the aircraft taking them from Belgrade to Manchester crashed while attempting to take off from a slush-covered runway in Munich, Germany, where it had stopped to refuel. The players who died were known as the Busby Babes because of their youth manager matt Busby and future star player Bobby Charlton survived.

1961: The entire US figure skating team perished when the aircraft taking them to compete in World Championships being held in Prague, crashed on its approach to Brussels airport.

1972: On October 13, A Uruguayan air force flight carrying 40 members of the Old Christians rugby club from Montevideo crashed in the snow-covered Andes mountains. Sixteen died on the spot, while 13 others perished in the harsh conditions because search and rescue teams were unable to find them. The remaining 16 survived by cannibalising the remains of the dead. They were finally rescued on December 23. Their remarkable story was told in a 1993 film, Alive.

1993: The Zambian national football team was wiped out on April 28 when the plane taking them to Senegal for a World Cup qualifying match crashed into the Atlantic just off the coast of Gabon. aninvestigation concluded pilot error caused the crash.

2011: The entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team died when the Yak-42 aircraft taking them to Minsk, Belarus for their first game of the season crashed into a river bank near Yaroslavl, Russia on September 7. The plane failed to lift off and struck a mast before crashing. Of the 45 passengers, 43 died on impact. Another died a few days later. the only survivor was the flight engineer. It subsequently emerged that the pilot and co-pilot had both falsified their qualifications to fly the aircraft, which crashed because of pilot error. The pilot was also banned from flying at the time and had phenobarbital (a banned substance) in his system.