YAROSLAVL, Russia – President Dmitry Medvedev called Thursday for fast changes in Russia’s troubled air transport industry — including sharply reducing the number of airlines — as the country mourned a crash that killed 43 people, among them most of a top hockey team.
The Wednesday crash, which killed 36 players, coaches and staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team, drew new attention to the poor safety air records of Russia and some other former Soviet republics. Experts blame the age of the aircraft, weak government controls, poor pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality.
Investigators could not immediately pinpoint the cause of the crash of the Yak-42 jet onto the banks of the Volga River shortly after takeoff from Yaroslavl, 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow. Workers labored Thursday to raise the plane’s shattered tail section, where one of the plane’s on-board recorders is, Russian news agencies quoted Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying.
The plane crashed on the opening day of an international forum in Yaroslavl that was to showcase the city as a modern and vibrant city. Medvedev lay flowers at the crash site and met with officials including Transport Minister Igor Levitin, and was speaking later Thursday.
“The number of air
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