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YAROSLAVL, Russia (AP) - President Dmitry Medvedev called for
immediate changes in Russia's troubled aviation industry Thursday -
including sharply reducing the number of airlines - as the country
mourned a crash that killed 43 people and devastated a top ice
hockey team.


      The crash Wednesday killed 36 players, coaches and staff of the
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team, including European and former NHL players 

such as Pavol Dimitra, who played for the Minnesota Wild

, drawing new attention to the poor air safety records of
Russia and other former Soviet republics. Experts blame the
problems on an aging fleet, weak government controls, poor pilot
training and a cost-cutting mentality.


      Investigators could not immediately pinpoint what caused the
Yak-42 jet to crash into the banks of the Volga River shortly after
takeoff from Yaroslavl, 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of
Moscow. Workers labored Thursday to raise the plane's shattered
tail section, site of one of the plane's on-board recorders.


      The plane crashed on the opening day of an international forum
that was to showcase Yaroslavl as a modern and vibrant Russian
city. Medvedev laid flowers at the crash site Thursday and met with
officials, and later opened his speech at the forum by calling for
a moment of silence to commemorate the victims.


      "The number of air companies should be radically reduced and
it's necessary to do this within the shortest time," Medvedev said
in comments at the meeting broadcast on Russian television. Experts
say that smaller carriers sometimes lack funds to properly maintain
their fleet and tend to cut corners on safety.


      Some hockey fans are laying the blame for the crash on
Medvedev's forum, which was held in the Lokomotiv arena, making it
impossible for the team to play its first game of the season at
home.


      Among the chants shouted by the couple of thousand mourning fans
who gathered outside the arena on Wednesday night were "Down with
the summit" and "The summit is guilty." Forum participants were
even told Thursday to take off their forum badges before heading
into town.


      It was not immediately clear what measures the government could
take to cut the number of airlines, many of which are small,
regional operations of uncertain financial health. Transport
Minister Igor Levitin told Medvedev there are about 130 air
carriers throughout Russia, but 85 percent of passengers are
carried by just 10 companies.


      On Thursday morning, hundreds of residents gathered at the
city's Russian Orthodox cathedral to mourn the victims. Many wore
team scarves, some of the women using them to cover their heads as
church ritual requires.


      The crashed jet was built in 1993 and one of its three engines
was replaced a month ago, Deputy Transport Minister Valery Okulov
told Russian media. It is unclear whether technical failure played
a role in the crash, but the plane apparently struggled to gain
altitude and then hit a signal tower before breaking apart along
the Volga.


      Okulov said federal transportation authorities are considering
whether to halt flights by the 57 Yak-42s still in service, the
state news agency RIA Novosti reported.


      The two crash survivors - player Alexander Galimov and crew
member Alexander Sizov - were both reported to be in grave
condition Thursday. They have been flown to Moscow for treatment,
Russian news agencies reported.


      Among the dead were Lokomotiv coach and National Hockey League
veteran Brad McCrimmon, a Canadian; assistant coach Alexander
Karpovtsev, one of the first Russians to have his name etched on
the Stanley Cup as a member of the New York Rangers; and Pavol
Demitra, who played for the St. Louis Blues and the Vancouver
Canucks and was the Slovakian national team captain.


      Other standouts killed were Czech players Josef Vasicek, Karel
Rachunek and Jan Marek, Swedish goalie Stefan Liv, Latvian
defenseman Karlis Skrastins and defenseman Ruslan Salei of Belarus.


      Medvedev previously has announced plans to take aging
Soviet-built planes out of service starting next year. The short-
and medium-range Yak-42 has been in service since 1980.


      The crash is one of the worst aviation disasters in sports
history.


      In past plane crashes involving sports teams, 75 Marshall
University football players, coaches, fans and airplane crew died
in West Virginia on Nov. 14, 1970, while returning from a game.
Thirty-six of the dead were players.


      Some 29 people were killed when a plane carrying the Uruguayan
rugby club Old Christians crashed in the Andes in 1972, including
five crew and some family members.


      The entire 18-member U.S. figure skating team died in a crash en
route to the 1961 world championships in Brussels, and 18 members
of the Torino soccer team died near Turin, Italy, in a 1949 crash.


      In 1993, another plane crash claimed 18 members of Zambia's
national football team and five team officials in Libreville,
Gabon.


      In 1980, 14 members of the U.S. amateur boxing team were killed
in a crash in Warsaw, Poland.


      Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story.
      

Gallery

Ex-Wild player among 43 killed in Russian jet crash

Disasters

The crash Wednesday killed 36 players, coaches and staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team, including European and former NHL players including Pavol Dimitra, who played for the Minnesota Wild.

Russians search for answers in jet crash that decimated hockey team

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