Brazilian football club Chapecoense Real suffered a huge loss as most of the team was killed on the flight headed for Colombia.
However, they are not the first team to have this traumatic experience. Over the years there have been some deadly air crashes that have scarred football in a big way.
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Here is a look at the top five football air disasters:
1. Munich air disaster
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The Manchester United team lost quite a number of their players. On February 6, 1958, the British Airways flight met with this accident. Evacuation was started, but not before 20 of the 44 total crew members had lost their lives.
2. Superga plane crash
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On May 4 1949, a Fiat G.212 aircraft of the Italian Airlines crashed into the wall of Superga. It was carrying the Torino football team and 31 lives were lost.
3. Zambia national football team death
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The plane was carrying the entire team to Dakar in Senegal for a FIFA World Cup Qualifying game in 1993. The flight crashed into the Atlantic Ocean just half a kilometre away from the shore at Gabon.
4. Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collision
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In 1979, the plane carrying Pakhtakor FK collided head-on with another plane over the Ukranian town of Dneprodzerzhinsk. The collision killed all 178 people on board.
5. LAN Chile Flight 210
Reuters
In 1961, the LAN Chile Flight 210, flying from Castro to Santiago disappeared in the Andes out of thin air. The flight was carrying 8 footballers and 2 coaching staff members. More than 50 years later the aircraft’s fuselage was discovered. 24 people died on the flight.