Travel is more than just a logistical necessity for professional sports teams. It’s a ticket to chasing championships. Yet, for some teams, these journeys ended in unimaginable tragedy. Join us here at Sky HISTORY as we relive five major plane crashes involving sports teams.
1. Manchester United – The Munich air disaster (1958)
Manchester United was riding a wave of success in 1958. The young team was nicknamed the ‘Busby Babes’ after their legendary manager Matt Busby and had just advanced to the European Cup semifinals. On 6th February, the team boarded a British European Airways flight home from Belgrade, with a refuelling stop in Munich. It was supposed to be a routine journey.
Instead, disaster struck. Battling heavy snow and slush, Flight 609 failed to gain enough speed during take-off. It skidded off the Munich runway and crashed into a nearby house. 20 of the 44 people on board died at the scene. Three more died in hospital, bringing total fatalities up to 23. This included eight players. Busby himself was a survivor, along with a young Bobby Charlton, who went on to become a footballing icon.
Manchester United’s spirit endured even in the face of unimaginable loss. Busby rebuilt the team, and a decade later, they won the 1968 European Cup. The victory was dedicated to those lost in Munich. To this day the Munich air disaster is commemorated annually at Old Trafford.
2. Chapecoense – LaMia Flight 2933 (2016)
28th November 2016, was supposed to be a historic day for Brazil’s Chapecoense football team. They were on their way to Medellín, Colombia, to compete in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final. But their chartered plane ran out of fuel just minutes from landing. It crashed into the mountains just outside the city. 71 of the 77 people onboard died, including most of the players and staff. Just three players survived — Alan Ruschel, Helio Neto and Jakson Follmann.
The global football community united in mourning. Tributes poured in from clubs around the world and Chapecoense was awarded the Copa Sudamericana title.
3. Old Christians Rugby Team – The Andes Flight Disaster (1972)
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 was supposed to transport 45 people, including 19 members of the Old Christians Club rugby union team, to Santiago, Chile. What followed was a survival story that captured global headlines and later inspired books and films.
The plane went down on 13th October 1972 in the remote Andes Mountains. Survivors were left stranded in freezing conditions with no food and little hope of rescue. Just 16 of the 45 people on board survived. This was after enduring 72 days in the snow-covered mountains. In desperation, some survivors resorted to cannibalism to stay alive.
Two men trekked for ten days to find help; a brave decision that ultimately saw the rest of the survivors rescued.
4. Torino F.C. – The Superga air disaster (1949)
Torino F.C. was the pride of Italian football in the 1940s. On their way back from a friendly match in Lisbon on 4th May 1949, the team’s plane encountered heavy fog near Turin. It crashed into the Basilica of Superga and killed everyone on board. The crash wiped out an entire generation of footballing talent. All 31 passengers, including 18 players, lost their lives.
The club was awarded the Serie A title for the 1948-49 season in honour of the team. Each year, fans and players gather at the Basilica to remember the players who died.
5. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl – YAK-Service Flight 9633 (2011)
Professional hockey suffered one of its worst-ever tragedies in 2011. Service flight 9633 failed to gain altitude, overran the runway near Yaroslavl, Russia and crashed into a riverbank. The Yakovlev Yak-42 was carrying 45 people, including all the members of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team.
All except one passenger, a flight engineer who was severely injured, died in the crash. The global hockey community rallied around Lokomotiv, and it was this sense of solidarity that helped the team rebuild.
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