KHL Team Lokomotiv Struck by Plane Crash Tragedy

The hockey world suffered a major loss today in Russia.

Reports indicate that the Yak-42 charter plane carrying KHL team Lokomotiv crashed shortly after takeoff and possibly even split in two.

Russia Today reports:

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The majority of victims were members of the local ice hockey team Lokomotiv.

The plane went down and caught fire shortly after taking to the air. Preliminary reports say it had insufficient lift and hit a beacon tower. The crash site is between 500 and 1,000 meters from the runway, according to different reports.

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There are also conflicting reports on how many survived the crash.

According to Yahoo! Sports "Puck Daddy" writer Dmitry Chesnokov, reports say there are three survivors while others maintain there is only one.

Chesnokov also tweeted, "Lokomotiv official tells Sovetsky Sport 'everyone from the main roster was on the plane plus four players from the youth team.'"

According to the Puck Daddy report from Greg Wyshynski, which sources the Lokomotiv's roster as of July 9, the roster included notable NHL names Josef Vasicek, Pavol Demitra, Karel Rachunek, Ruslan Salei, Karlis Skrastins and Red Wings goalie prospect Stefan Liv. Former Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Brad McCrimmon was listed as their head coach.

This news is absolutely devastating to the hockey community and the sporting world at large.

Accidents are part of team travel, but the sporting world has not seen anything this catastrophic since the "Colourful 11" crash in 1989 and the Zambia crash in 1993.

The Surinamese footballers on board, known as the "Colourful 11," were among a group of 187 passengers that went down with the plane. Only 11 of 187 survived the crash.

And in 1993, 18 footballers from the Zambia national team perished on a plane of 30 people en route to a World Cup qualifying match against Senegal.

The last major crash involving a single sporting team was the 1970 plane crash that claimed the lives of all 75 Marshall football team players and crew on board.

Chesnokov's latest intel from Lokomotiv officials indicates that one survivor has been identified as forward Alexander Galimov.

A new development in the story comes courtesy from Deadspin's Barry Petchesky. He recently tweeted:

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The Yaroslavl plane that crashed was banned from flying over European airspace two years ago, due to safety concerns. 

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The Yak-42 is part of a fleet of Armenian Airline planes that were placed under a ban.

More information will be provided on this tragic accident as it becomes available.