Plane crashes in sports have devastated pro teams and college programs

The crash of an American Airlines jet that collided with an Army helicopter was the latest to strike the sports world in the U.S. and globally.

Among the passengers were several members of the Skating Club of Boston who were returning from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas. They included teenage figure skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, their mothers and two highly regarded Russian-born figure skating coaches, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. All 64 people on board were feared dead.

Air travel accidents in sports are rare, but they have had devastating impacts on national programs, amateur teams and professional clubs.

A look at some of the plane crash tragedies that have struck the sports world over the decades:

On Feb. 6, 1958, a plane carrying the Manchester United team and officials crashed as it attempted to take off on a slush-covered runway in Munich. The team was returning from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade, and the plane stopped to refuel in Munich. Among the 23 people were killed were eight Man U players and three team officials. Among those who survived was England great Bobby Charlton.

On Feb 15, 1961, a commercial flight carrying all 18 members of the U.S. Figure Skating team to the world championships in Prague crashed near the Brussels airport, killing everyone one board. Six coaches were also on the plane, along with four team officials and six of the group’s family members.

On Oct. 2, 1970, one of two chartered jets carrying the Wichita State football team to a game in Utah crashed near Silver Plume, Colorado. Of the 40 on board, 31 died, including 14 players along with coaches, boosters, administrators, trainers and three crew members. The NTSB later said the crash could be attributed primarily to pilot error.

On Nov. 14, 1970, a chartered jet carrying the Thundering Herd crashed in fog and rain into a hillside upon approach to an airport near Huntington as the team returned from a game at East Carolina. All 75 on board were killed, including 36 football players and 39 school administrators, coaches, fans, spouses and flight crew.

On Oct. 13, 1972, a chartered Uruguayan Air Force flight carrying the Old Christians Club from Montevideo Uruguay, to Santiago, Chile, crashed in the snowy Andes Mountains. The wreckage was not found for two months and only 16 of the 45 people on board survived. Facing snow storms, avalanches and starvation, survivors awaiting rescue were forced to eat the flesh of those who had died, and their ordeal has been chronicled in books and movies.

On Dec. 13, 1977, an Air Indiana chartered plane with the Evansville University men's basketball team crashed 90 seconds after takeoff from the Evansville airport. The 29 people killed included 14 players and first-year head coach Bobby Watson.

On March 14, 1980 the U.S. amateur boxing team was flying from New York to Poland for international events ahead of the 1980 Moscow Olympics when their plane crashed near Warsaw. All 87 on board were killed, including 14 boxers and eight team staff members. Two months later, the U.S. decided to boycott the Olympics due to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

On April 28, 1993, a military aircraft carrying Zambia’s national soccer team to a World Cup qualifying match crashed into the sea minutes after takeoff from Libreville, Zambia. The team was on its way to play Senegal in the second round of qualifying for the 1994 World Cup. Eighteen players and five team officials were killed.

On Jan. 27, 2001, a turboprop plane carrying 10 men associated with the Oklahoma State University basketball team, including players Nate Fleming and Daniel Lawson, crashed shortly after takeoff near Boulder, Colorado, after the Cowboys had played at the University of Colorado. Six team staffers and broadcasters also were killed.

On Sept. 7, 2011, 36 players, coaches and staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl professional ice hockey team were killed when their plane crashed near Yaroslavl in central Russia. Investigators said one of the two pilots accidentally put the wheel brakes on during takeoff. Of the 45 people on board, 44 died. The only player who survived the initial crash later died of burns. A flight engineer was the sole survivor.

Associated Press reporters Dave Skretta in Kansas City, Missouri, Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City, and Eric Olson in Omaha, Nebraska contributed.

FILE - Rescuers work at the crash site of a Russian Yak-42 jet near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011. The Yak-42 jet, carrying members of the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl, crashed while taking off. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)

FILE - Investigators search over some of the wreckage of a small plane that crashed in a pasture outside the eastern Colorado community of Byers, Colol., Sunday, Jan. 28, 2001, that killed 10 people the day before, including two Oklahoma State basketball players and six staffers and broadcasters associated with the men's team. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

FILE - Wreckage of a DC-3 which crashed on takeoff from Dress Regional Airport in Evansville, Ind., lies on top of a ridge adjoining railroad tracks, Dec. 14, 1977. Twenty-nine people died in the crash, including members of the University of Evansville basketball team. (AP Photo/File)

FILE- A member of the Andean Group Rescue Corp throws a handful of earth over the common grave of 29 victims of a Uruguayan plane that crashed in the Chilean Andes mountains Oct,. 13, 1972. There were 16 survivors who were rescued 70 after the crash on Dec. 23, 1972. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this Nov. 15, 1970, file photo, a fireman looks over the wreckage of a plane in Kenova near Huntington, W.Va., that killed all 75 aboard including members of the Marshall football team. (AP Photo/Henry Griffin, File)

FILE - A charred football helmet, bearing the "W" of Wichita State, hurled from the wreckage of a Martin 4-0-4 airliner near Silver Plume, Colo., as seen on Saturday, Oct. 3, 1970. The crash occurred Oct. 2, about 1:15 pm when the airline crashed into a mountain killing 31 people including members of the Wichita State football team. (AP Photo/Robert D. Scott, File)

FILE - The smoldering wreckage of a Sabena Boeing jet airliner that crashed near Brussels, Belgium, is shown Feb. 15, 1961 . The 17-member U.S. figure skating team and their coach were among the 72 persons aboard the plane who were killed. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - This Oct. 31, 1960 file photo, shows the broken hull and wreckage of a chartered plane that crashed on Oct. 29, 1960, killing 22 people, including 16 Cal Poly football players, a manager and a booster, is shown in Toledo, Ohio. The team was returning home after playing Bowling Green in a college football game when the plane crashed shortly after take-off. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - Snow falls on the wreck of a BEA Elizabethan Airliner which crashed on take-off at Munich, Germany, Feb. 6, 1958, killing 21 people, including seven members of the Manchester United football team. The Manchester United football team were returning from Yugoslavia where they had played a European Cup quarter final against Red Star Belgrade the day before. (AP Photo/Heinrich Sanden, File)

Britain is hosting a summit of European leaders on Sunday to shore up support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with President Donald Trump that left many uncertain where the once staunch allies stood.

The London meeting has now taken on greater importance in defending the war-torn ally and boosting the continent’s defenses.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is hosting the leaders of more than a dozen countries and other officials, embraced Zelenskyy on his arrival in London on Saturday, saying he is determined to find an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here’s the latest:

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who has positioned herself as a bridge between Trump and Europe, spoke with the U.S. president on Saturday night, ahead of the London meeting, her office said.

Meloni, the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration, has been a strong supporter of Ukraine, making her position difficult given the White House clash.

French President Emmanuel Macron says Russia must be stopped or it's likely to expand its military operations in Ukraine further west.

Macron told La Tribune Dimanche newspaper ahead of a summit in London that Vladimir Putin’s ambitions pose an existential threat to Europe.

“We have an over-armed and aggressive Russia on our borders. It is carrying out terrorist actions and massive disinformation campaigns here and in Europe,” Macron said. If Putin is not stopped, Macron said, “he will certainly move on to Moldova and perhaps beyond to Romania."

"It’s our security that’s at stake,” Macron added.

“The clear destiny of the Americans is to be on the side of the Ukrainians, I have no doubt about that,” he said. “I want the Americans to understand that disengagement from Ukraine is not in their interests.”

The British prime minister says the Unted Kingdom, France and Ukraine have agreed to work on a ceasefire plan to present to the United States.

Starmer says the plan emerged after talks among the four countries’ leaders following President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s spat with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday.

The prime minster told the BBC he believes the U.S. president wants a durable peace in Ukraine. He repeated his assertion that American security guarantees will be needed to make it stick.

The meeting at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old elegant mansion near Buckingham Palace, follows a charm offensive last week to engage with Trump to tilt his allegiances toward Europe.

That offensive, however, devolved into a meltdown on live television from the Oval Office on Friday with Trump's extraordinary scolding of Zelenskyy.

It seemed to dash, at least for now, Ukrainian hopes that the United States could be locked in as a reliable partner in helping fend off, and conclude, Russia’s three-year onslaught on Ukraine.

Sunday's summit will also include leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Romania, as well as the NATO secretary-general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council.

The summit on Sunday will also include leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Romania, as well as the NATO secretary-general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he had to “find a way to restore his relationship with the American president” after the two leaders engaged in an extraordinary meltdown at the White House on Friday.

Rutte told the BBC on Saturday that he told Zelenskyy that “he really had to respect what President Trump has done so far for Ukraine.” He was referring to the first Trump administration’s decision in 2019 to supply Ukraine with Javelin antitank missiles that Ukraine used to deadly effect against Russian tanks in the first wave of the 2022 invasion.

Calling the Friday meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy “unfortunate,” Rutte said he “knew as a fact that the American administration is extremely invested in making sure that Ukraine gets to a durable peace” with Russia.

Rutte said he expected European leaders, who were meeting in London on Sunday, to help secure a future peace deal by providing Ukraine with security guarantees.

A person holds a sign as members of the New York Ukrainian community and supporters gather in Times Square, Saturday, March 1, 2025 in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, for a meeting at 10 Downing Street in London, England, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, escorts Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his waiting car as he leaves 10 Downing Street in London Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Rescue workers put out a fire from a house hit by a Russian drone strike on a residential neighborhood in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, embraces and greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street, London, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Vice President JD Vance, right, speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, as President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office at the White House, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shake hands during a meeting at 10 Downing Street in London, England, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)