The Sverdlovsk plane crash of 5 January 1950 killed all 19 persons on board, including almost the entire

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team (

VVS Moscow VVS Moscow (russian: Военно-Воздушные Силы (Москва) / in English: ''Moscow Military Air Force'') was a Soviet sports club representing the Soviet Air Force. Among the sports the club participated in were football, ice hock ...

) of the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

– 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur. The team was on board a twin-engined

Lisunov Li-2 The Lisunov Li-2 (NATO reporting name: Cab), originally designated PS-84, was a license-built Soviet-version of the Douglas DC-3. It was produced by Factory #84 in Khimki, Moscow-Khimki and, after evacuation in 1941, at Tashkent Aviation Pro ...

transport aircraft, a licensed Soviet-built version of the

DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

, heading to a match against the Dzerzhinets (

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a ...

) (Traktor Chelyabinsk) hockey club. Due to poor weather at Chelyabinsk, the flight diverted to Sverdlovsk. The crew attempted four approaches but during the fifth approach to

Koltsovo Airport Koltsovo International Airport (russian: Аэропорт Кольцово) is the international airport serving Yekaterinburg, Russia, located 16 km (10 mi) southeast of the city. Being the largest airport in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Kolts ...

at Sverdlovsk in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

, the aircraft crashed near the airport in a heavy snowstorm with strong winds. Among those killed in the crash was goalkeeper

Harijs Mellups Harijs Mellups (1927–1950) was a Latvian football and ice hockey player. Mellups died in the 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash at age 23. Biography Mellups came from Sarkandaugava in Riga where he played football in the streets and ice hockey on ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sverdlovsk Air Disaster Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union Aviation accidents and incidents in Russia Aviation accidents and incidents in 1950 Sverdlovsk air disaster Aviation accidents and incidents involving professional sports teams Sver January 1950 events in Europe Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-3 1950 disasters in the Soviet Union

See also

References