Mikhail Yuryevich Balandin - Russian hockey player, played in the position of defender. Pupil of the club "Torpedo". He played in many of the best hockey teams in Russia. The end of his career spent in the club “Locomotive”. He died on September 7, 2011 as a result of the crash of the plane, which was the entire main team.
Childhood
Mikhail Balandin was born on July 27, 1980 in the city of Lipetsk. Another child grew up in the family - the brother of the future champion, Sergey. Boys were raised by their mother - Tamara Viktorovna Balandina. My father left the family when Mikhail was seven years old.
In his hometown, the boy began to play hockey. At the age of thirteen, he briefly left the sport, but soon regretted it and returned to training. Until the age of sixteen, the guy was brought up in the school №11. Here, his first mentor was Viktor Alekseevich Kulikov. Then Mikhail moved to Yaroslavl, where he continued his studies at a sports boarding school. The guy graduated from high school number 9 and became a pupil of "Torpedo-2".
Sports career
In 1999, Mikhail Balandin continued his sports activities in Penza at the Dizelist and Krylia Sovetov clubs, but a year later the young man returned to Yaroslavl. For two seasons Mikhail played in the Lokomotiv team.
He then acted as a player in several more clubs. These were the following teams: “Salavat Yulaev”, “CSKA”, “Chemist”, “Atlant” and “Dynamo”. But hockey player Mikhail Balandin showed his best result in matches held as part of Lada. Twice, in 2003 and 2004, the athlete won the bronze of the championship of Russia. In the summer of 2011, Mikhail returned to Lokomotiv.
Plane crash
On September 7, 2011, the Lokomotiv hockey team, which included Mikhail Balandin, was supposed to make an international flight on a charter flight on a Yak-42D aircraft. The service was provided by the Yak Service airline.
The crew of the aircraft planned to fly from Yaroslavl to Minsk. Weather conditions for the flight were normal, nothing boded ill. The liner was run by an experienced crew. The plane began to take off, but rolled out beyond the runway to a distance of four hundred meters.
The liner was able to rise to a height of about five to six meters, after which there was a collision with a radio beacon. As a result of this, the plane crashed, hit the ground and collapsed. This happened on the banks of the Tunoshonka River. Some fragments of the plane fell into the water. Only a few seconds passed between takeoff and crash of the liner.
Consequences of the disaster
As a result of the crash of the aircraft, all passengers and crew members were killed, with the exception of one person. Only the engineer for aviation and radio technical services Alexander Sizov managed to survive. He was not wearing a seat belt, so he was thrown into the river.
Mikhail Balandin tragically passed away with his hockey comrades. Since the main team was killed, “Locomotive” was withdrawn from the competition of the Continental Hockey League of the season.
Investigation of the causes of the disaster
The investigation, conducted in order to find out the causes of the tragedy, lasted three years. As a result, the following was revealed: terrible consequences were caused by the fact that one of the crew members pressed the brake pedal during take-off. Violations of the rules for the safe operation of air transport were also discovered. The training of crew members was not carried out properly, and the co-pilot did not undergo retraining for flights on this type of aircraft.
During the investigation, experts found that the ship was in good condition. Proper crew training could help to avoid this terrible situation. For all this, the former deputy general director of the airline, Vadim Timofeev, was responsible. He was brought to trial for the violations that resulted in the death of forty-four people. According to the verdict, the man was found guilty. He was supposed to spend five years in a penal colony, but Timofeev managed to escape punishment as a result of the amnesty.
A family
Relatives survived the death of Mikhail Balandin. But strangely enough, the tragedy rallied the family. The parents of the hockey player did not communicate for a long time, his father lived far away - in another city. Upon learning of the death of his son, he arrived in Lipetsk, from where, together with his ex-wife and son, Sergei went to Yaroslavl for a funeral.
At the time of his death, Mikhail was married. The daughter grew up in the family (see below on the photo with Mikhail Balandin).
The hockey player met his future wife on December 25, 1998. Elena was then married and raised a nine-year-old son. Between them, love arose, despite the fact that the young man was nine years younger than his chosen one.
Six months later, the woman left her husband. Soon the lovers got married. They had a wonderful daughter Lisa. The couple’s marriage lasted thirteen years. The athlete spent all his free time with his family. Below you can see a photo of hockey player Mikhail Balandin with his wife.
Elena was informed about the tragedy an hour later. She was at school with her daughter at this time. Both very hard suffered the death of her husband and father. The girl closed herself, amid stress, recovered by nine kilograms.
Mikhail Balandin and his wife were bound by great love. And Elena twice tried to commit suicide. Her relatives watched her so that no new misfortune would happen. According to her, she died with her husband. She lay for days, not finding the strength to live on. To drown out the heartache, I started drinking. But for the sake of her daughter, the woman was able to pull herself together and return to life.
Elena Balandina bought the cottage that Mikhail dreamed of and planted an alley of thirty-nine thuja near the house. The woman, with the help of her daughter, looks after the trees and in every way protects them. When relatives and friends come to visit, be sure to visit the alley.
Memory
Hockey player Mikhail Balandin is buried in Yaroslavl at the Leontief Cemetery, but in his hometown of Lipetsk he is remembered and honored. Here, near the Ice Complex, a monument was opened to the deceased hockey player. Among the youths annually held tournaments in memory of the hockey player Balandin.
Friends remember the deceased very warmly. They talk about him as a stubborn and purposeful man who has been walking towards his dream since childhood. Hockey player comrades consider it absolutely fair that the best hockey clubs in the country paid attention to Mikhail.
At the same time, the young man was rather modest. Achieving success in sports, he remained the same nice guy. Knowing that it was difficult for many families to get in good shape and equipment for their children, he often helped beginner athletes.
Mikhail Balandin himself went through many difficulties, because he and his brother were brought up by one mother. Once in Yaroslavl, he came to see how the boys from Lipetsk play. The children were students of the same school where he had once studied. After the match, Michael talk with the children’s coach. The very next day, young athletes were waiting for a surprise. Balandin gave the whole team a new uniform and clubs.
This was such an amazing person: kind, sympathetic, generous, excellent athlete and a wonderful family man. That’s how he is remembered and will be remembered for many more years.