1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash

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1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash

A Li-2 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	7 January 1950
Summary	Crashed in adverse weather
Site	Koltsovo Airport, Sverdlovsk, USSR
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lisunov Li-2 (license-built DC-3)
Operator	Soviet Air Forces
Registration	42 Red[1]
Flight origin	Vnukovo Airport, Moscow, USSR
Destination	Chelyabinsk Airport, Chelyabinsk
Occupants	19
Passengers	13
Crew	6
Fatalities	19
Survivors	0

The Sverdlovsk plane crash of 7 January 1950 killed all 19 people on board, including almost the entire ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Forces – 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur. The team was on board a twin-engined Lisunov Li-2 transport aircraft, a licensed Soviet-built version of the DC-3, heading to a match against Dzerzhinets Chelyabinsk. Due to poor weather at Chelyabinsk, the flight diverted to Sverdlovsk. The crew attempted four approaches but during the fifth approach to Koltsovo Airport the aircraft crashed near the airport in a heavy snowstorm with strong winds.^[2]

Among those killed in the crash was goalkeeper Harijs Mellups.

The crash was covered up by Vasiliy Stalin, the son of Joseph Stalin and the team's manager, who immediately recruited a new team without his father's knowledge.^[3][4]

• List of accidents involving sports teams

56°50′16″N 60°35′49″E / 56.837814°N 60.596842°E / 56.837814; 60.596842