A RUSSIAN JET crash that killed 44 people, including an entire professional ice hockey team, was caused by pilot error, investigators said today, putting the blame on poor training and safety standards.

The Interstate Aviation Committee said the September 7 crash of the Yak-42 plane near the city of Yaroslavl in central Russia occurred because one of the pilots accidentally activated the brakes during takeoff and then lifted the jet too sharply.

Alexei Morozov, who led the investigation, said the crew still had enough time to abort the takeoff safely at the moment when they realized that it had gone wrong.

He blamed the plane’s owner, Yak-Servis, for failing to observe safety standards and adequately train the crew.

Morozov added that a medical condition of the second pilot and the prohibited medicine he had taken contributed to the disaster.

The plane crashed into the banks of the Volga River, 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow.

It was one of the worst aviation disasters ever in sport, shocking Russia and the world of hockey, as the dead included 36 players, coaches and staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team.

The only player who survived the crash later died of burns. A flight engineer was the sole survivor. The team had been heading to Minsk, Belarus, to play its opening game of the Kontinental Hockey League season.