# sports team plane crash **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420 "2001-01-23T17:07:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mealypotaotes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/54ee81/32.png) [@mealypotaotes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mealypotaotes)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/1 "2001-01-23T17:07:54Z")
I did 4 searches on various combinations of these keywords, and nothing came up, but I can’t belive nobody’s ever asked this one of the general masses, but at any rate . . . What would happen if a plane carrying a pro-sports team crashed, no survivors? Do leagues have a quiet plan in place? The Detroit Red Wings plane lost an engine last week, but landed safely in California. This was even a topic on Seinfeld once . . . anyone have any insights? ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Moss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Doc\_Moss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Moss)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/2 "2001-01-23T17:16:31Z")
In the 1960’s a plane carrying none other then Manchester United went down killing almost all of them. What did they do, you ask? Opened up their wallets and bought a brand new, kick-ass team. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/3 "2001-01-23T17:17:16Z")
Hey mealy, I have absolutely NOTHING to back this up except to say that I THINK I SAW IT ON ESPN CLASSIC, but I understand that if an NFL team’s plane crashes and the team is dessimated, that all of the other teams give up two players and a draft pick to reconstruct the team. Or something to that effect. Can anyone else help me out on this? jarbaby ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/4 "2001-01-23T17:22:58Z")
Just a WAG, but my guess is that if it happened in MLB the team’s AAA affiliate would get instant promotions to the Big Leagues, across-the-board. For example, if the Cubs went down and all died, the AAA Iowa Cubs would all become the MLB Chicago Cubs. The AA Daytona (??) Cubs would all move up to AAA, and so on. Just a WAG. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/5 "2001-01-23T18:21:15Z")
I remember reading (please don’t ask for a cite!) years ago that Major League Baseball planned for this with what they call (no euphemisms here!) a disaster draft. Each of the other teams would have to give up one or two players to restock the victim team. Clearly, that would be an instant ticcket to last place, but it’s better than what happened to Marshall University in West Virginia. They lost an athletic team (I think it was football)in a plane crash and dropped out of competition in that sport for, IIRC, two years. This would have been somewhere around 1970, if you’re interested. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/6 "2001-01-23T18:23:19Z")
All of the major pro sports leagues in the US have emergency plans in case an entire team is wiped out by an accident of some kind. Generally, the specifics are kept quiet because it’s considered a little too spooky to talk about. In each league (MLB, NLF, NBA, and NHL), there is a form of an expansion draft where the team that lost its players can pick certain players off of another team’s roster, although some players can be protected. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/7 "2001-01-23T19:06:21Z")
The Manchester United air crash. [http://members.nbci.com/heathens/archive/munich.html](http://members.nbci.com/heathens/archive/munich.html) [http://members.nbci.com/heathens/archive/bill.html](http://members.nbci.com/heathens/archive/bill.html) ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/8 "2001-01-24T05:21:10Z")
There was an excellent article about this a long time ago in the now-defunct National Sports Daily, and everything that has been previously mentioned seems to jive with what is the case–the “disaster draft”, a quiet but real plan. They mentioned the Marshall football crash and some other scary incidents like when the Minneapolis Lakers’ plane almost crashed, when the roof of the Hartford Civic Center collapsed (no one was inside), etc. ---
**Author:** ![Viscera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/258eb7/32.png) [@Viscera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viscera)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/9 "2001-01-24T06:48:40Z")
Also, in 1961, a [plane](http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/364/sports/The_tragic_story_of_the_1961_US_figure_skating_team+.shtml) carrying the entire US Figure Skating Team crashed on the way to the World Championships. Hence, a lot of “minor leaguers” (so to speak) got their starts a lot earlier than they otherwise might have, including Peggy Fleming. Vis ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/10 "2001-01-24T14:59:01Z")
I believe the former Soviet Union lost an entire Red Army team in a snowy plane crash. Two or three of the greatest players in the Soviet Union, maybe the world, perished. It took them years to recover from the loss of talent. I believe the Seinfeld reference to losing an entire team went something like this: George rambles: All those sports teams flying all over the place…you’d figure one of them would crash eventually…" I believe it was one of the Keith Hernandez episodes. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/11 "2001-01-24T15:10:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > \*\*All of the major pro sports leagues in the US have emergency plans in case an entire team is wiped out by an accident of some kind. > \*\* Does losing 41-0 in the playoffs count as “wiped out by an accident?” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/12 "2001-01-24T16:21:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > \*\*Does losing 41-0 in the playoffs count as “wiped out by an accident?” \*\* We’ll see if it was an accident on Sunday. 😃 Go Jints! ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_G7subs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Rich\_G7subs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_G7subs)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/13 "2001-01-24T16:38:37Z")
\>\>\>\>\>For example, if the Cubs went down and all died, the AAA Iowa Cubs would all become the MLB Chicago Cubs. The AA Daytona (??) Cubs would all move up to AAA, and so on.\<\<\< So what you’re saying is that if all the Cubs were killed,they would have a better shot at the pennant? ---
**Author:** ![H8\_2\_W8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c77e96/32.png) [@H8\_2\_W8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H8_2_W8)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/14 "2001-01-24T20:12:07Z")
into a cemetary just outside of West Lafayette, IN. So far, Purdue authorities have recovered over 500 bodies. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/15 "2001-01-24T21:11:28Z")
I remember way back (about 1980) when the U.S. Men’s boxing team went down in a plane crash. They had a mini draft/audition thing where they quickly and quietly replaced the team. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/16 "2001-01-24T22:31:45Z")
Quite frankly, I’m shocked and appalled that this far into this topic no one has brought up the story of **Alive**. I’d have thought people here would have the common decency to bring this up. ---
**Author:** ![schief2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@schief2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schief2)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2001, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/17 "2001-01-28T07:17:44Z")
a bump with a relevant aside, thanks to a [CNN article](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/news/2001/01/27/denver_planecrash/), “Two OSU players among 10 killed in plane crash” (today in Colorado): > [@](#): > > In 1977, 14 University of Evansville basketball players and coach Bobby Watson were killed in a plane crash. > > In 1970, 36 Marshall football players and 39 coaches, administrators, community leaders, fans and crew died when the school’s chartered jet crashed. A month before, a plane carrying the Wichita State football team crashed in Colorado, killing 31 people. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2001, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-team-plane-crash/51420/18 "2001-01-28T19:15:38Z")
Back to the OP. In Major League Baseball, each league has a plan to restock with players if a team is catastrophiclly hit with injuries/deaths. The American League has (or maybe had, see below) a plan as follows: If at least five players were “totally disabled or worse” as a result of an accident, a replacement draft would be held. Each of the other teams would have to submit a list to the commissioner’s office of four players who will be eligible to be drafted. These players must have been on the major league roster on the date of the accident. The team then gets to pick from those players until it replaces the players it lost. The National League plan was slightly different. It required six players to be “disabled” and each team left three players unprotected. Of course, now that the National and American Leagues are no longer seperate business entities, I don’t know the current status of these plans. Zev Steinhardt