Russian Plane Crash Fuels More Than Just Tears
Nikki Gillingham // September 29, 2011
The hockey world suffered a great tragedy Wednesday, September 7th when a Soviet-era Yakovlev-42 airplane crashed, killing almost the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team. Player Alexander Galimov, and a crew member identified on the KHL website as Alexander Sizov, are the only survivors of the crash. Killing 43 players and crew members, the accident had a huge impact on the Russian hockey league, which has only been in existence since 2008.
Canada also suffered a loss in the crash, as was noted by nearly every article covering the event. Newly recruited head coach Brad McCrimmon was an 18-year veteran of the NHL and grew up in Plenty, Saskatchewan. In an interview for CBC News, Doug McLeod, a Saskatchewan native, told reporters that McCrimmon often returned to his family farm during his playing days with the Calgary Flames. McCrimmon won a Stanley Cup and a Canada Cup during his playing career in the NHL.
This accident, though tragic, spurred a fascinating response from mass media sources worldwide. Communications practitioners must be constantly aware of the ramifications of such tragedies in the media, especially if it affects one’s organization. In this case, there are three salient points: a Canadian died in the crash, making this news highly relevant to Canadians; an entire hockey team was killed, sending shockwaves throughout the hockey world internationally, and especially in Russia; finally, how does Moscow deal with this sudden, intense international focus on its aviation security and professionalism?
Heading to Minsk, Belarus, for their first game of the KHL season, the team, needless to say, never made it. Several media sources suggest the Yak-42 was unable to gain height after leaving the runway upon take-off, struck a navigation beacon, and crashed about 2km from the airport. Media has also covered a number of other tragedies this summer in Russian Hockey, making the timing of this particular crash very unfortunate indeed. Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien, and Wade Belak all passed away this summer. The three enforcers all seemed to suffer from pressures from within the hockey world and died of sudden and unsuspicious deaths. Belak’s has been confirmed a suicide, and Boogaard’s the result of a deadly mix of alcohol and drugs. The death of an entire team of KHL players, albeit accidental, is now added to the list.
The crash has also led to more media speculation about the safety of Russian aircrafts following this and other fatal crashes. In June, a Tupolev Tu-134 jet crashed while trying to land in fog in Petrozavodsk, in Northern Russia, killing 45 people. The navigator, who died in the crash, had apparently been drinking before the flight. In April of 2010, the plane of Polish President Lech Kaczynski (which was Russian built) also crashed in thick fog, killing him and 95 others. Two Antonov An-12 plane crashes, one in August in Russia’s Far East and the second in July in Siberia, unfortunately, killing 11 and seven people.
The Yak-42, which was the plane involved in this latest crash, was built during the Soviet era. It has been used in commercial service for more than 30 years. However, the New York Times reports that eight of these planes have crashed, killing 570 people, since 1975.
In response, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev has announced plans to take Soviet planes, such as the Yak-42, out of service beginning next year. A day following the crash, President Medvedev spoke at a global policy forum, calling for less airlines, as well as the purchase of foreign aircraft in order to guarantee safer air travel.
Tracking media portrayals of this tragedy have shown that when a highly-publicized accident such as this becomes “news”, it is never as simple as the sad truth of lives lost. Like ripples on a pond, the tragedy caused several other issues to arise, most prominently the safety of Russian airlines. Smaller incidents in the past coalesced with this one, large loss, and created enough sensationalism to bring focus to the problem. Enough people have suffered, the media says: let’s get to the underlying issue. For a practitioner, this would be the beginning of a new strategy and a new campaign proving to Russia and the world that airline safety is improving. These unexpected links are what make the job of a Communications professional complex, compelling and challenging.
