Football teams, victims of a plane crash

Atlas Magazine lists below the football teams that crashed.

Brazilian football team "Chapecoense" crashed in 2016

On November 28, 2016, Flight 2933 took a tragic turn. The Avro RJ85 aircraft carrying 77 people including the Brazilian football team Chapecoense, 1st division club, crashed five minutes from the landing at the international airport José-María-Córdova, in Rionegro Colombia. The toll was 71 deaths. 17 members of the Chapecoense club perished, including the famous Cléber Santana. Only three footballers survived the accident.

Zambia National Football Team Crashed in 1993

On April 27, 1993, a DHC-5 Buffalo Zambian military aircraft crashed off Libreville. On board, there were 30 people including five crew members and 18 footballers from the Zambian National Team. The latter had to play a decisive qualifying match against Senegal. Zambia were among the favorites to enter the final tournament of the 1994 World Cup. All people on board perished. The coach and the team captain were not on the plane. Kalusha Bwalya was scheduled to take part in a match with his club PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands before joining his team-mates.

The Alianza Lima football team crashed in 1987

On 8 December 1987, the plane carrying the Peruvian first division football team Alianza Lima suffered an air crash. The F-27 fokker of the Peruvian Navy was carrying 16 footballers, the technical staff, three referees, a team of cheerleaders and other passengers. A total of 43 passengers were aboard the aircraft which crashed at sea before reaching the runway. Only the pilot was unharmed from the crash. The latter will later announce that a player (Alfredo Tomassini) managed to get off the plane, but ended up drowning due to leg injury and exhaustion.

Uzbek football team Tashkent crashed in 1979

On August 11, 1979, two planes collided in the sky over Ukraine. The first, which was heading from Donetsk (Ukraine) to Minsk (Belarus), was carrying 84 passengers, including the first division football team FC Pakhtakor Tashkent. The second aircraft from Voronezh (Russia) was headed for Kishinev (Moldova) with 94 people on board. The accident that killed 178 people was due to a misunderstanding of the instructions of the air traffic controllers.

Manchester United football team crashed in 1958

Manchester United fans are unlikely to forget midfielder Duncan Edwards. He died in a plane crash on February 6, 1958 with seven other "Busby Babes" players. The Manchester United team were coming back from a European Cup match in Belgrade against Red Star.

In all, 21 members (players, technical staff and accompanying persons) died during this event. Among the survivors of the tragedy was Bobby Charlton, who later became an emblematic figure in the game of football in England. Eight years later, he won the 1966 World Cup with the England national team.

Another survivor of the plane crash, Bill Foulkes who became the captain of Manchester United. He won the 1967-1968 European Club Championship.

Italian football team, Torino, victim of a crash in 1949

On May 4, 1949, the plane carrying the Turin football team crashed on the hill of Superga, in Northern Italy. The 31 people on board were burned to death.

At the 1950 World Cup, the Italian national team was hit hard by this accident. Deprived of Torino FC team players, it was eliminated in the first round.