Air travel is a pivotal part of sport. Games aren't situated in one central location where teams play against each other. As such, travelling is an essential aspect. While bus and train transportation is available, air travel is the most popular. While it can be fun travelling, dangers still remain. Sadly, there are three cases to illustrate this type of tradegy.
Close by on the outskirts of Turin, the wreckage of an aeroplane lay smouldering on the Superga hill, 700m up behind the giant basilica that overlooks the city.
Going through the suitcases and bodies, searchers eventually identified the victims and began to realise that among the 31 dead were Serie A's all-conquering champions, Il Grande Torino.
It was 4 May 1949 and Torino were set to win a fifth consecutive league title. With four matches of the season remaining, the team had flown out to play a testimonial match for a Benfica player in Lisbon.
On the way back, almost the entire squad was killed, including their Hungarian-Jewish manager who had escaped from the Nazis and their English coach, Leslie Lievesley, a former Manchester United full-back who incredibly had survived three previous air crashes. His son, Bill, was about to turn 11.
On that late afternoon, news quickly spread throughout the north Italian city. By evening, it had reached Sauro Toma, a defender who had not travelled with his team-mates because of injury. Scores of emotionally overwhelmed fans mobbed him in the street. Before his death in 2018, aged 92, he said he lived as someone, "condemned to survive, while my brothers perished."
The plane had collided with the back of the basilica wall, amid thick fog. Later, it was concluded malfunctioning equipment must've led the pilot to believe he was well clear of the building, realising only when it was too late.
Two days after the crash, half a million people lined the streets as the funerals were held. Torino were awarded the Serie A title, at the request of their rivals, Juventus. Only fate could beat them, it was said. The team passed into legend not as the Invincibles but the Immortals.
The next season, each top-flight club was asked to donate a player to Torino, to help them rebuild. The 1949-50 title was won by Juventus, as Torino finished sixth. They have won the league only once since, in 1975-76, the seventh title in the club's history.
The Superga disaster is central to Torino's identity and its legacy isn't forgotten. Every year, thousands congregate at the site where the plane came down.
Remains of the aircraft, including a propeller, a tyre, scattered pieces of the fuselage and the personal bags of Mazzola, Maroso and Erbstein are preserved in a museum in Grugliasco near Turin. The Museo del Grande Torino e della Leggenda Granata, located in the prestigious Villa Claretta Assandri of Grugliasco, was opened on 4 May 2008, the anniversary of the tragedy. Eight of the 18 players (as well as two coaches and the journalist, Renato Casalbore) are buried at the Cimitero Monumentale of Turin.
9 years later, the Munich Air Disaster occured. Tragedy struck the world of football when a plane carrying Manchester United players crashed in thick snow at Munich Airport.
In early 1958, Manchester United made it through to the semi-finals of the European Cup after beating Red Star Belgrade.
The following day, the squad; club staff; journalists and a number of other passengers boarded their British European Airways plane at Belgrade airport to fly back to Manchester. At around 13:15, the plane, a six-year-old Airspeed Ambassador 2, landed in Munich for a brief stopover to refuel.
After the aircraft had been refuelled, the crew attempted to take off twice, failing due to engine problems. By this time, it had begun to snow heavily and it looked increasingly likely that the flight would be delayed until the next day. However, the crew were eager to keep on schedule and a third attempt at taking off was made.
By that point, the snow had caused the runway to be carpeted in a thick blanket of slush, which slowed the plane down so much that it couldn't reach a high enough speed to take off. As a result, the aircraft skidded at the end of the runway, crashing through a fence surrounding the airport and into a nearby house.
Thick flames began to envelop the plane as the house caught fire; before a hut filled with tyres and fuel exploded. Twenty passengers died in the immediate tragedy, with three dying later in hospital. Seven Manchester United players died at the scene and an eighth, Duncan Edwards, died 15 days later in hospital.
Survivors attempted to save as many passengers as they could, with Bobby Charlton, Dennis Viollet and goalkeeper, Harry Gregg, among those saved. The pilot, James Thain, survived but co-pilot, Captain Kenneth Rayment, died from his injuries five weeks later.
Gregg was heralded for his role in not only dragging team-mates, Sir Bobby and Viollet out of the burning wreckage by their waistbands but also by saving a 20-month-old baby and her badly injured, pregnant mother - Vera Lukic; the wife of a Yugoslavian diplomat.
It decimated the club, with a hugely promising generation lost, particularly the colossal talent that was Edwards. While Busby recovered, assistant manager, Jimmy Murphy, took the club's makeshift side to that season's FA Cup final, although they lost to Bolton Wanderers.
Busby nearly quit football but what is so remarkable about Munich is the way he rebuilt the club. Within five years, his new side did indeed win the FA Cup; sparking United's glorious run in the 60s that included two league titles and, poignantly, the European Cup 10 years after Munich.
On 28 November 2016, a charter flight carrying the Chapecoense team crashed as it approached José María Córdova International Airport near Medellín, Colombia, where the team was travelling to play the first leg of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana final against Atlético Nacional, a match that was seen as the biggest in the history of the club.
All but six of the 77 passengers died; only three Chapecoense players survived their injuries. Following the crash, Atlético Nacional made a request to the governing body of the competition, CONMEBOL, that Chapecoense be awarded the trophy. CONMEBOL awarded Chapecoense the trophy on 5 December, and Atlético Nacional received both the Centennial Fair Play Award and FIFA fair play Award for their gesture.
On the evening of 28 November 2016, LaMia Flight 2933, carrying 77 people, including the staff and players from the club, crashed as it approached Medellín, Colombia; 71 people died (including 21 journalists and almost the entire first team and managerial staff) and 6 survived, according to the BBC.
The surviving players were: left-back, Alan Ruschel; backup goalkeeper, Jakson Follmann (who had one of his legs amputated due to his injuries and was forced to retire from professional football) and center-back, Neto. Goalkeeper, Danilo, initially survived the crash but later died before arriving to the hospital.
Chapecoense goalkeeper, Nivaldo, who didn't board the flight, soon after announced his immediate retirement from football. It emerged that the crash had resulted from fuel starvation; the pilot had requested to land due to fuel problems but was instructed to wait, as another aircraft was having fuel leakage problems and had already requested priority landing. The government of Bolivia suspended LaMia Airlines's flying license after it surfaced that the pilot skipped a crucial refueling stop.
Due to the crash, the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals in which the team were due to play was suspended indefinitely. Their opponents, Atlético Nacional, offered to concede the tie to allow Chapecoense to be awarded the championship. On 4 December 2016, Chapecoense's interim president announced that CONMEBOL would be granting the club the tournament title and prize money.
While initially other Brazilian clubs offered to loan out players to them for free and sent a request to the Brazilian FA stating that the club should be immune from relegation for three years, Chapecoense rejected this assistance, stating that they wanted to rebuild properly.
Chapecoense were asked to fulfill their next league fixture in tribute to the players and staff who died in a plane crash. Chapecoense President, Ivan Tozzo, revealed that the Brazilian FA had asked for the club to play their final league game of the 2016 campaign in part by drawing on their Under-20s side to fill out the roster. However, both Chapecoense and their opponents Atlético Mineiro refused to play. Both teams were awarded a 3–0 loss for the game.
All three stories are heartbreaking. Everyone on board were completely unaware of the potential danger that lay ahead. Everything should've been done at the safest moments and not rushed. A delay in proceedings should be done if it's necessary. If a game needs to be suspended, then so be it. People's safrety should always be a priority.
It's a good thing that memorials are done. It's a way that will make people remember what happened all those years ago. I also believe that the offerings of players and a title win is an honourable gesture.