"God forbid to become a witness of this"
On September 7, 2011, the III World Political Forum with the participation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and foreign delegations from more than 30 countries of the world opened at the Arena 2000 ice palace, where all the home matches and training sessions of the deceased team took place.
Alexander Shikhanov was the head of the information and public relations department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Yaroslavl region and wrote about the work of the police during the forum.
According to him, he remembers the events of that day almost every minute: “16:02.
A journalist calls: "Is it true that the plane on which Lokomotiv was supposedly flying fell in Tunoshna?"
In Yaroslavl?
The plane fell?
Can not be.
I'm calling the duty room. "
Seven minutes later, at 16:09, the operational duty officer confirms by phone: a plane did indeed fall in Tunoshna.
Shikhanov with the operator leave for the crash site.
“The phone is bursting, we are clearly exceeding the speed limit, but the traffic police squads all the way from the center to the airport - there was a world forum in the city - just follow us with their eyes,” he recalls.
From the place of the fall of the Yak-42 to the houses on the outskirts of the village - literally 50 meters, continues Shikhanov. The crashed plane miraculously did not touch residential buildings. The whole place of the fall was plowed up by the collapsed side and was smoking, the fragments scattered 100 meters around, and the tail lay in the Tunoshonka River - firefighters were still pouring fire on it.
“On the hillock, you can see a birch tree, literally cut off by an airplane when it falls, and a rickety power line post that looks like a burnt cross.
The bodies of the dead are right there.
They are wearing only underwear and socks, all the rest of the clothes - apparently made of synthetics - burned out, - says Alexander Shikhanov.
- Young men, tall, well-developed, but severely crippled, burned, faces cannot be distinguished from under the layer of soot.
Among the wreckage are Lokomotiv's hockey jerseys.
After walking around the scene of the accident, I understand that it was the rescuers who covered the remains of the dead with sweaters.
God forbid to become a witness of this. "
By five o'clock in the evening, the regional police department on duty learned from the rescuers that 22 corpses had been found.
In total, there were 45 people on the plane - eight crew members, eleven representatives of the coaching staff and almost the entire core of the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv.
“We go beyond the red and white signal strips. A tall man in a dark blue T-shirt stands near the riot police's outfit and, holding his head with his hands, looks towards the wreckage, '' recalls Alexander Shikhanov. - Friends say that this is the father of striker Alexander Galimov. At the time of the accident, he was at the dacha of friends not far from Tunoshna, and when he heard about the tragedy, he immediately ran here. "
Many of the journalists who worked at the forum also arrived in Tunoshna by five o'clock: film crews from federal channels, correspondents from Japan, Sweden, Poland, and Great Britain began to broadcast news about the plane crash. By seven o'clock in the evening, both the police and the film crews became aware of a spontaneous gathering of Lokomotiv fans in the Arena-2000 area. The ice arena was cordoned off for the duration of the forum, but the guards had to remove some of the turnstiles in order to let everyone in the sports complex to express condolences to the loved ones of the victims.
“My wife and son went with me.
We wanted to buy flowers, but they bought everything in stalls before us, - says Alexander Shikhanov.
- People walked in an endless stream.
The wall of Arena 2000 closest to the bus stop has become a wall of memory: mountains of flowers, scarves, hockey sweaters, handwritten posters, photographs, burning candles.
There are many crying: grief united everyone. "
By eight in the evening, it became known about two survivors at the crash site: flight engineer Alexander Sizov and Lokomotiv forward Alexander Galimov.
26-year-old Alexander Galimov was able to get out from under the wreckage of the plane's tail, but received burns to almost 90% of his body.
He was pulled out of the water alive and conscious, the riot policemen took him to the Solovyov hospital.
Then Galimov was transferred to Moscow, where he died on September 12.
Flight engineer Alexander Sizov, who was also sitting in the tail of the plane, was the only survivor.
At about nine in the evening, about three thousand hockey fans began a spontaneous march through the streets of Yaroslavl.
From the wall of memory near the "Arena-2000" fans moved along the carriageway of Gagarin Street to Moskovsky Prospekt - this was the first "march of silence" in memory of the lost team.
According to Shikhanov, the fans did not disperse until the early morning.
Reuters
© Denis Sinyakov
On September 10, a farewell ceremony and funeral of the deceased players, coaches, doctors and administrators of Lokomotiv took place in Yaroslavl.
“On that day, at least 100 thousand people came to the Arena.
People stood for hours in the pouring rain to walk past the coffins of their favorite players and place flowers in their portraits.
I still remember the sea of umbrellas in front of the central entrance of the complex, ”adds Alexander Shikhanov.
Burns incompatible with life
On the fact of the plane crash, a criminal case was initiated under the article "Violation of traffic safety rules and the operation of air transport."
The International Aviation Committee was responsible for decoding the black boxes.
It turned out that the plane rolled out of the runway and took off from the ground, but a few seconds after taking off from the ground, it touched a tree, a radio beacon and crashed onto the banks of the Tunoshonka River.
After the fall and explosion of the fuel, the Yak-42 caught fire.
Experts found that 39 people died on the spot from hitting the ground, three more choked, falling into the river along with the debris of the fuselage, and two more, including the hockey player Galimov, died from burns incompatible with life: the flame engulfed the entire plane almost immediately , even the tires on the wheels of the chassis burned out.
The examination revealed in the blood of the Yak-42 co-pilot Igor Zhevelev the psychotropic drug phenobarbital, which is not allowed for flight work.
The co-pilot was observed by a neurologist for several years.
Also, IAC experts found out that both pilots of the Yak-42 flight underwent retraining from Yak-40 to Yak-42 aircraft, which have different positions of the brake pedals.
“There are no recommendations for the crew on the position of the feet on the pedals at various stages of the flight in the training materials for flight personnel for the Yak-42 aircraft,” the IAC report says.
“During the emergency flight, there was a negative shift in piloting skills in terms of the position of the feet on the pedals during the takeoff run.”
After taking off from the ground, the plane managed to gain an altitude of five to six meters and reach a speed of about 230 km / h.
According to the conclusion of the IAC specialists, the Yak-24 crashed with a strong left bank about 600 meters to the left of the end of the airport runway.
The convicted in the Lokomotiv case was Vadim Timofeev, deputy director general for the organization of flight operations of the Yak-Service airline, who, according to the materials of the investigation, illegally allowed the crew of the aircraft to work.
The court sentenced the former employee of the firm to five years in prison, but in connection with the amnesty released the man in the courtroom.
At the moment, both Vadim Timofeev and the only flight engineer who survived the plane crash, Alexander Sizov, live in the Moscow region and refuse to communicate with the media.
"Disconnected" from the main team
“There are three of us - me, another striker, Maxim Zyuzyakin, and goalkeeper Nikita Lozhkin, in fact, at the last moment they were“ unhooked ”from the main team,” Ivan Krasnov, ex-striker of the youth team of the Yaroslavl club, tells RT.
He played for the youth team Loko, but managed to train with the main team - the athlete moved to the KHL in the summer of 2011 and was with the team at a sports training camp in Switzerland.
“Then all August we trained at the base in Yaroslavl, held a pre-season tournament in Riga, and literally three days before the flight to Minsk, I was told that I didn’t get there yet, but after the away series we would continue to work together,” Ivan recalls.
After the plane crash, Ivan Krasnov played two more seasons for the youth team.
To date, the striker has completed an active sports career.
“That Lokomotiv was not just strong - it was a dream team, which I was striving for,” he adds.
Nikita Lozhkin was the goalkeeper of the Loko youth team at the time of the plane crash.
He trained with hockey players from the main squad, and on September 8, Loko was supposed to play with Magnitogorsk Steel Foxes.
“It was the beginning of the season, I was resting at home in Yaroslavl, preparing for the game.
They called my girlfriend and said that Lokomotiv had crashed.
Of course, I did not believe it, I went on to sleep.
But then the second bell rang, and we realized that it was true. "
Upon learning of what had happened, the hockey player first went to the Solovyov hospital, where doctors tried to save Lokomotiv striker Alexander Galimov.
“At that time Sanka was still alive ... Then, of course, the girl and I went to the“ Arena-2000 ”.
Everyone was there - all the youth team, the fans, - Nikita Lozhkin recalls that day.
"Of course, there was no game with the Steel Foxes the next day."
Loko managed to play about half of the season, and when it was decided to restore Lokomotiv, Nikita Lozhkin moved to the main squad together with other players of the youth team.
The goalkeeper played for Lokomotiv for two years, then moved to Novokuznetsk Metallurg, managed to play for Dynamo St. Petersburg and the Tambov hockey club.
Now he continues to play in one of the regional hockey clubs, is married and has a son.
At the Tambov hockey club, Nikita Lozhkin met the former Lokomotiv striker Maxim Zyuzyakin, who was supposed to fly to Minsk on September 7.
At the last moment, the coach replaced him with Alexander Kalyanin.
At the time of the Yak-42 crash, Zyuzyakin played for both Loko and the main team.
It was Maxim who became the captain of the revived team after the plane crash and broke up with the Yaroslavl club only in 2013.
Zyuzyakin changed several regional teams.
The last club for which the pupil of Lokomotiv played was Tambov.
The administration of the RT club reported that he temporarily retired from hockey this spring after an injury and an operation.
Updated armored train
The ex-defender of the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv Mikhail Pashnin was one of those who got into the restored club after the plane crash.
According to the player, he received several offers, including from the capital CSKA, but he made a choice in favor of Yaroslavl hockey.
“At first it was hard to live up to expectations,” the hockey player recalls.
"We went out on the ice and gave ourselves completely, because there was no other way: the fans always supported us, there was always a full stadium, and it was great."
The hockey player played for Lokomotiv for five years, then played for the capital CSKA and Salavat Yulaev.
Together with defender Yegor Yakovlev, who also played in the revived Lokomotiv roster, Mikhail Pashnin now represents Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
The athlete says that in five years as part of the railway workers, he managed to build a house in Yaroslavl and still periodically comes to the city in the summer to meet with friends.
“It was a good time in Yaroslavl, one of the best.
I always remember the city and the team with warmth, - he adds.
"I used to often invite the whole team and staff for dinner."
President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretyak told RT that the memory of Lokomotiv is immortalized in tournaments that are held in the country every year, they are dedicated to both individual hockey players and the entire team.
“The composition of the participants is very different: sports schools, hockey veterans, friends of players, fans.
Over the past ten years, our federation has played home matches of the Russian national team against the strongest teams in Europe in Yaroslavl, ”noted the President of the FHR.
According to the head of the FHR, in May 2012, when the Russian national team scored ten victories in ten matches of the World Cup and won gold, that victory was dedicated to Lokomotiv right at the press conference.
"And it is right.
There were many guys in the deceased team who were worthy to play in the national team at the World Championships, added Vladislav Tretyak.
- This year, for the first time, Lokomotiv will play the match of the Russian championship on September 7.
Previously, no matches were scheduled for the anniversary of the tragedy, but now this is done at the request of the Yaroslavl club - to honor the memory of the lost team.
"Became a defender like daddy"
Anton, the son of Andrei Zimin, who died along with the team of Lokomotiv doctor, was in Tyumen at the time of the plane crash, where he played for the local hockey club Rubin.
“Then friends from Yaroslavl just came to visit me.
They got a call and said that the plane with the team had fallen.
A few hours later I was already in Yaroslavl, ”the hockey player recalls.
Together with his mother, the athlete was at the farewell ceremony at the "Arena-2000" and at the funeral.
According to Anton Zimin, he personally did not know foreign hockey players and newcomers of the season, but almost all of the administrative headquarters who died - massage therapists Yuri Bakhvalov and Alexander Belyaev, administrator Vladimir Piskunov, methodologist Yevgeny Sidorov - knew his father practically from the university.
“My father worked in a team at the time of my birth, I went to work with him from childhood and watched how adult uncles train,” recalls Anton Zimin.
- Like most children, probably, I wanted to be a goalkeeper.
But dad said: "Either for the attacker, or not at all."
Anton Zimin played almost his entire career in the Higher League - for the clubs of Nizhny Tagil, Kurgan, Tyumen.
Four years ago, he retired, returned to Yaroslavl and now works as a coach for the development of players of youth teams in the Lokomotiv system.
And three years ago, the eldest son of the former athlete began to play hockey.
“It's nice to return to where I practically grew up thanks to my father,” says Anton Zimin.
- When you are in the locker rooms with the team since the age of six, you go to the training camp with the team ... I had a chance to continue playing.
But the chance to return to his native club, and even to the position of a youth coach, is very rare ”.
The name of sports physician Andrey Zimin is now carried by the annual international conference on sports medicine.
It was he who provided first aid to 19-year-old Lokomotiv defender Alexei Stonkus after a spinal fracture during the match with Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
According to eyewitnesses, the physician quickly recognized the fracture when examined on the ice and did not allow Stonkus to rise on his own, otherwise the athlete could remain disabled.
After the postponed operations, the defender ended his career ahead of schedule and became a coach.
The eldest son of defender Pavel Trakhanov, 18-year-old Georgy, switched from hockey to football.
The youngest, 11-year-old Alexei, has been on the ice since he was five, and has been training at the Yantar sports school in Moscow for the last year.
“I got him a helmet, skates, a big brother's sweater.
Dressed and put on ice.
He also became a defender, like a dad, - says Alexei's mother, Ekaterina Trakhanova.
"And plays in his father's number 3 sweater."
As Ekaterina recalls, when the youngest son had just arrived at Yantar, his team had a friendly game with Wings of the Soviets, and two hockey players Trakhanov came out on the ice at once - the son of Pavel Trakhanov's cousin also played for Wings of the Soviets at that time , Denis.
“Pasha is always with us behind the scenes.
Until now, for example, you drive - and the children are like: "Now, dad would drive like that!"
- Ekaterina Trakhanova shares.
"He loved speed, all hockey players probably love it."
Pavel and Ekaterina met when they studied at one at a sports school, where the hockey player's future wife was engaged in rhythmic gymnastics.
“Almost from the end of school we have been together - I was 18, and he was 19.
So they lived together for 15 years.
All the time that we could spend together, we spent to the maximum, - Ekaterina Trakhanova recalls.
“I never got married again: it is impossible to replace Pasha, and I don’t need the one who will be worse”.
According to the recollections of the hockey player's widow, the peak of Pavel Trakhanov's career was already behind him, so it was considered a great success to sign a contract with a club of the level of Lokomotiv at the age of 33 years, which is respectable for a professional athlete.
The Trakhanovs went to Yaroslavl together.
According to Ekaterina, she practically did not disassemble bags with things for traveling: as soon as her husband received a new contract in another city, the family followed him.
“He just signed a contract and went to the first pre-season training camp of Lokomotiv,” says Ekaterina.
- Pasha was brought into the team, he met everyone, met Mishka Balandin there, with whom he had previously played in Atlanta.
And the first game was supposed to be in Minsk ”.
On the eve of the team's departure to Belarus, Ekaterina returned to Moscow with her children, and learned about what had happened from Pavel's mother when she was walking with her sons: “Then everything was like in a nightmare ... Pasha did not have to be identified - his mother was taking a DNA test. The body was given in a closed coffin - after the disaster, little remained of her husband. I still visit Yaroslavl only once a year - on that very anniversary. I don't remember the first year after the disaster. Then the children somehow helped to return to their former life with their activities. Friends supported, guys-hockey players, Pashin's agent. They pulled it out, one might say: they will invite you to a restaurant, then somewhere else. Willy-nilly, you will gather to look worthy. At least in public. "