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Fans of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team file past portraits of those lost in the crash at a service in September. Misha Japaridze/AP/Press Association Images

Probe says Russian hockey team crash caused by 'pilot error'

One of the pilots accidentally activated the brakes during takeoff and then lifted the jet too sharply, investigators say.

A RUSSIAN JET crash that killed 44 people, including an entire professional ice hockey team, was caused by pilot error, investigators said today, putting the blame on poor training and safety standards.

The Interstate Aviation Committee said the September 7 crash of the Yak-42 plane near the city of Yaroslavl in central Russia occurred because one of the pilots accidentally activated the brakes during takeoff and then lifted the jet too sharply.

Alexei Morozov, who led the investigation, said the crew still had enough time to abort the takeoff safely at the moment when they realized that it had gone wrong.

He blamed the plane’s owner, Yak-Servis, for failing to observe safety standards and adequately train the crew.

Morozov added that a medical condition of the second pilot and the prohibited medicine he had taken contributed to the disaster.

The plane crashed into the banks of the Volga River, 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow.

It was one of the worst aviation disasters ever in sport, shocking Russia and the world of hockey, as the dead included 36 players, coaches and staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team.

The only player who survived the crash later died of burns. A flight engineer was the sole survivor. The team had been heading to Minsk, Belarus, to play its opening game of the Kontinental Hockey League season.

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    Mute Gagsy 99
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 10:08 AM

    That’s a hilarious response?
    Really?

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    Mute Lurfic
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 10:11 AM

    Not much sport on I suppose, gotta write about something.

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    Mute Chris Finn
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 12:40 PM

    Ah it was just meant in jest as a bit of banter don’t lose any sleep over it

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    Mute Gagsy 99
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 1:18 PM

    @Chris Finn:

    Not having a go at Rory – harmless banter indeed. He’s not holding himself out to be a modern day Oscar Wilde!

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    Mute Mick Jenkins
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    Dec 23rd 2016, 10:46 AM

    I’d prefer if the titles were “please keep clicking during Christmas, we’re sorry we don’t have stories”.

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    Dec 23rd 2016, 10:59 AM

    Merger with Joe.ie going well.

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    Dec 23rd 2016, 11:25 AM

    These morons are earning too much money!!

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    Dec 23rd 2016, 12:00 PM

    ‘Perfect response’ from perfect Rory Mop head…wake me up when you get a personality!!

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    Dec 23rd 2016, 3:27 PM

    Just cracked the screen on my phone after dropping it, I was laughing so hard at McIlroy’s hilarious response. Such a kidder

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    Dec 23rd 2016, 11:23 AM

    What a put-down! Rory “I’m not Irish” McIlroy has to be one of the greatest wits of our time. The worse thing for him from a commercial perspective would be a revitalised Tiger in 2017, competing for all those lucrative sponsorship deals, even if he doesn’t win any more majors.

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    Dec 23rd 2016, 5:49 PM

    Hard to believe Tiger Woods sleeping with all those porn stars, stripers, waitresses and prostitutes…….

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    Dec 23rd 2016, 11:11 PM

    No comments on Tigers massive areolae? Eh hem…

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