There is no truth to rumors that the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air crash, which killed 44 people including the entire hockey team, was an act of terrorism, Russian investigators said Wednesday.
Traces of the speculation that forced the federal Investigative Committee to release a statement refuting foul play in September's disaster could not immediately be found.
The Yak-42, chartered by Lokomotiv, crashed just after takeoff as the team was heading to Belarus for its season-opener against Dinamo Minsk. Among the dead were a slew of former NHL stars and future draft prospects.
"Recently in Yaroslavl rumors have circulated that the reason for the Yak-42 crash, in which the entire Lokomotiv hockey team perished, was allegedly a terrorist act," the statement posted on the body's website said.
"After careful study of a large volume of material and collecting forensic results, the terrorism theory fell away in the first stages of the investigation."
The statement said that pilot error and poor crew coordination were found to be the cause, but only preliminarily.
"It's too early to talk today about the prominence of one or the other theory."
The chairman of the Interstate Aviation Committee, which conducted a separate probe, said in November that the tragedy was caused by inexperienced pilots inadvertently applying the brakes on take-off.
Alexey Morozov said one of the pilots was apparently pressing hard on a brake pedal while pulling the control yoke up.
Morozov's team established at least four causes that contributed to the crash, including a lack of pilot training, the absence of control over the crew’s preparation for flight, the pilots’ failure to follow standard takeoff procedures and poor coordination between the crew during the takeoff.
In addition, neither pilot was fit for flying, as one had traces of a sedative drug in his blood and the other had been diagnosed with a motor-skill debilitating disease, he said.
Meanwhile, the Investigative Committee questioned the motives of those spreading terrorism rumors.
"Whoever is circulating rumors around the investigation of this tragedy and to what end it is being done, one can only guess."
"But it is clear that this is not well-intentioned."
The hockey team, meanwhile, is slowly reforming as it attempts to restore its status as one of the KHL's leading teams.
On Monday, Carolina Hurricanes assistant coach Tom Rowe was announced as the new coach of the team, which has played in junior MHL league since the disaster.
