A chartered Yak-42 airplane carrying the elite Yaroslavl Lokomotiv hockey team crashed outside of Yaroslavl last week, killing 44. The only remaining survivor, crew member Alexander Sizov, is being treated at a Moscow hospital.
The latest developments:
- The Yak-42 failed to gather sufficient speed on the runway because pilots forgot to disengage the plane's emergency brake, the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily reported on Tuesday, citing an anonymous source close to the investigation (source). Interfax, however, cited an anonymous source as saying that there was no evidence to support this theory (source). The airplane clipped a navigation beacon at the end of the runway and slammed into the ground, falling apart and bursting into flames.
- The Moscow city government will pay 1 million rubles ($33,000) to the families of Muscovites killed in the crash, Interfax reported on Wednesday, citing an anonymous source in the city administration. City Hall will also set aside monthly sums their children. (source)
- The bodies of all crash victims have been identified. (source)
- Alexander Sizov's condition has improved to "relatively satisfactory," Moscow Health Department chief Leonid Pechatnikov said, Interfax reported on Wednesday. Pechatnikov said he was confident that Sizov would return to a "normal professional life." (source)
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