Those on board included 65 passengers and six crew members, the Russian news agency Interfax said.

The plane went down in Ramenskoye District, in the Moscow region, the Russian emergency ministry told CNN.

The Antonov-148 aircraft disappeared from the radar shortly after takeoff from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport and crashed soon afterward, Tass reported.</s>A Russian passenger plane believed to be carrying 71 people has crashed near Moscow, shortly after takeoff from one of the city's airports.

A Russian passenger plane believed to be carrying 71 people has crashed near Moscow, shortly after takeoff from one of the city's airports.

In this screen grab provided by the Life.ru, the wreckage of a AN-148 plane is seen in Stepanovskoye village, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Domodedovo airport, Russia, Sunday, Feb. 11. (Life.ru via AP)

MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian passenger plane carrying 71 people crashed near Moscow shortly after taking off from one of the city's airports Sunday. The country's transportation minister said there were no survivors.

The Saratov Airlines regional jet disappeared from radar screens a few minutes after departing from Domodedovo Airport en route to Orsk, a city some 1,500 kilometers (1,000 miles) southeast of Moscow.

Fragments from the Antonov An-148 airliner were found in the Ramenskoye area, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the airport. Footage on state television showed them strewn across a snowy field with no buildings nearby. No on the ground casualties were reported.

Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said Sunday afternoon that "judging by everything, no one has survived this crash." He did not give the number of people on board, but Russian news reports said the plane carried 65 passengers and six crew members.

Russia's Investigative Committee said all possible causes were being explored.

Russian President Vladimir Putin put off a planned trip to Sochi in order to closely monitor the investigation. Putin was to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Monday in the Black Sea resort, where the president has an official residence.

Instead, Abbas will meet with Putin in Moscow in the latter part of Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

The An-148 was developed by Ukraine's Antonov company in the early 2000s and manufactured in both Ukraine and Russia. Russian state news agency Tass said the plane that crashed had been flying since 2010, with a two-year break because of a shortage of parts.

The plane was ordered by Rossiya Airlines, a subsidiary of Aeroflot, but was put into storage during 2015-2017 because of the parts shortage. Tass reported that it re-entered service for Saratov Airlines in February 2017.

Shabby equipment and poor supervision had plagued Russian civil aviation for years after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, but its safety record has improved markedly in recent years.

The last large-scale crash in Russia occurred on Dec. 25, 2016, when a Tu-154 operated by the Russian Defense Ministry on its way to Syria crashed into the Black Sea minutes after takeoff from the southern Russian city of Sochi. All 92 people on board were killed.

In March 2016, a Boeing 737-800 flown by FlyDubai crashed while landing at Rostov-on-Don, killing all 62 people aboard.

An onboard bomb destroyed a Russian Metrojet airliner soon after taking off from Egypt's Sharm al-Sheikh resort, killing 224 people in October 2015.

This version has been corrected to show the 2015 Metrojet bombing killed 224 people, not 244.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>A Russian domestic passenger plane crashed shortly after taking off from a Moscow airport on February 11, killing all 71 people on board, Russian authorities say.

"Sixty-five passengers and six crew members were on board, and all of them died," Russia's Office of Transport Investigations said in a statement.

The Antonov An-148 operated by Saratov Airlines vanished from radar screens as it was en route from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport in Moscow to Orsk in the Urals, according to Interfax.

Fragments from the plane were found in Ramenskoye district, some 40 kilometers from the airport.

Flight-tracking site Flightradar24 tweeted that the plane was descending at 1,000 meters per minute five minutes after taking off.

Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the president “offers his profound condolences to those who lost their relatives in the crash.”

Putin put off a planned trip to Sochi on February 12 in order to closely monitor the investigation, Peskov said.

State TV channel Rossiya-24 showed footage of fragments of the plane in a snow-covered field with no buildings nearby.

One of the flight recorders has been recovered, officials said.

Most of those on board were from the Orenburg region, where the plane was flying to, local officials said. Three children and at least one foreign national were among the passengers.

The Orenburg regional government declared February 12 a day of mourning in the province.

Relatives of the victims have been gathering in the Orsk International Airport, an airport spokesman told Interfax.

"They are approaching us and are asking questions... We are giving them information," the spokesman said.

The Transport Ministry was considering weather conditions and human error as possible reasons for the crash, according to Interfax.

The aircraft was manufactured by the Voronezh Aircraft Production Company in 2010, the company's press service told TASS.

The company said it would set up a special commission to conduct an investigation into the cause of the crash.

Russian airlines have suffered two large-scale plane crashes in recent years. A Tu-154 operated by the Russian Defense Ministry crashed into the Black Sea, killing all 92 people on board, on December 25, 2016.

An onboard bomb destroyed a Russian Airbus A321 soon after taking off from Egypt's Sharm al-Sheikh resort, killing 224 people, in October 2015. The Islamic State extremist group said it had placed the bomb aboard the plane.

With reporting by TASS, Interfax, Reuters, and AFP</s>MOSCOW — A Russian passenger plane believed to be carrying 71 people crashed Sunday afternoon near Moscow, shortly after takeoff from one of the city’s airports. No survivors were immediately reported.

The An-148 regional jet disappeared from radar screens a few minutes after departing from Domodedovo Airport en route to the city of Orsk, some 1,500 kilometers (1,000 miles) southeast of Moscow. The plane reportedly belonged to Saratov Airlines, a Russian commercial carrier.

Plane fragments were found in the Ramenskoye area about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the airport. Footage on state television showed them strewn across a snowy field with no buildings nearby. It was unclear if there were any casualties among people on the ground at the crash site.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said all possible crash causes were being looked into.

Russia’s state news agency Tass says the passenger plane that crashed had been flying since 2010, with a two-year break because of a shortage of parts.

The plane was ordered by Rossiya Airlines, a subsidiary of Aeroflot, but was put into storage during 2015-2017 because of a lack of parts. Tass reports it re-entered service for Saratov Airlines in February 2017. The jet was developed by Ukraine’s Antonov company in the early 2000s, and was manufactured in both Ukraine and Russia.

Shabby equipment and poor supervision had plagued Russian civil aviation for years after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, but its safety record has improved markedly in recent years.

The last large-scale crash in Russia occurred on Dec. 25, 2016, when a Tu-154 operated by the Russian Defense Ministry on its way to Syria crashed into the Black Sea minutes after takeoff from the southern Russian city of Sochi. All 92 people on board were killed.

In March 2016, a Boeing 737-800 flown by FlyDubai crashed while landing at Rostov-on-Don, killing all 62 people aboard.

An onboard bomb destroyed a Russian Metrojet airliner soon after taking off from Egypt’s Sharm al-Sheikh resort, killing 244 people in October 2015.</s>LONDON — A Russian passenger plane crashed shortly after leaving a Moscow airport Sunday, killing all 71 people on board, Russia’s Transport Ministry said.

There were 65 passengers and six crew members aboard the short-haul flight.

“Judging by everything, no one has survived this crash,” Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said Sunday afternoon.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry told Reuters earlier Sunday that two bodies had been found at the site of the plane crash. NBC News was unable to immediately verify the report. Investigators told Reuters that debris and human remains were spread over a radius of more than half a mile from the crash site.

The Saratov Airlines flight was heading from Moscow to the city of Orsk near the Kazakhstan border before plummeting to the ground outside the capital.

Russian officials said all passengers aboard the airliner are believed to have been residents of the Orenburg region, where the plane was headed, according to Russian news agency Interfax.

The Russian Ministry for Civil Defense said the plane crashed in the Ramenskoye area, which is around 25 miles southeast of Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. Russian emergency services were on the scene, with over 150 people deployed to deal with the incident, the ministry said.

Footage and stills from news agencies showed fragments strewn across a snowy field with no buildings nearby.

The Saratov Airlines flight #6W703 crashed around five minutes after take off and was falling with up to 22,000 feet per minute, according to Flightradar24, which tracks airplane traffic across the globe.

The tracking service said the flight involved a seven-year-old Antonov An-148 aircraft.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said all possible causes for the crash were being looked into.

Russian President Vladimir Putin put off a planned trip to Sochi in order to closely monitor the investigation. Putin was to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Monday in the Black Sea resort, where the president has an official residence.

Instead, Abbas will meet with Putin in Moscow later on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

Emergency services at the site where a Russian passenger plane crashed outside Moscow, February 11, 2018. MAXIM SHEMETOV / Reuters

TASS reported that the passenger plane had been flying since 2010, but was put into storage during 2015-2017 because of a lack of parts. According to the news agency, the plane re-entered service for Saratov Airlines in February 2017. The plane was ordered by Rossiya Airlines, a subsidiary of Aeroflot.

Shabby equipment and poor supervision had plagued Russian civil aviation for years after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, but its safety record has improved markedly in recent years.

The last large-scale crash in Russia occurred on Dec. 25, 2016, when a Tu-154 operated by the Russian Defense Ministry on its way to

Syria crashed into the Black Sea minutes after takeoff from the southern Russian city of Sochi. All 92 people on board were killed.

crashed while landing at Rostov-on-Don, killing all 62 people aboard.

destroyed a Russian Metrojet airliner soon after taking off from Egypt’s Sharm al-Sheikh resort, killing 244 people in October 2015.

The crash site of Russian passenger plane outside Moscow, February 11, 2018. STRINGER / Reuters</s>Two Armenians were confirmed dead in the air crash in Moscow region.

Sergey Ghambaryan was the second pilot of the Saratov Airlines’ Antonov An-148 jet that crashed after take-off outside Moscow.

The list of passenger\s published by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, there was an Armenian woman (identified as Varsik Sevoyan) among the 65 passengers on board.

Saratov Airlines’ Antonov An-148 jet carrying 65 passengers and six crew crashed after take-off outside Moscow.

Russian investigators are searching snow-covered fields near Moscow for clues why the passenger plane crashed.

Officials say they are considering weather conditions, human error and technical failure as possible causes.</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his condolences to the families of people killed in the Saratov Airlines jet crash and ordered a probe into the tragic and deadly incident, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Vladimir Putin “offers his deep condolences to those who lost their loved ones in this accident,” Dmitry Peskov said in a statement. He added that Putin had instructed the appropriate authorities to probe the Saratov Airlines plane crash.

“The President ordered the government to create a task force [to investigate] the air accident in the Moscow region,” Peskov said, adding, “he also directed the agencies concerned to carry out necessary search and rescue operations.”

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has also conveyed his sympathies to families affected by the Antonov An-148 crash. Moscow city authorities are ready to offer “any assistance” to the Emergencies Ministry, the mayor wrote on Twitter.

The regional jet — operated by Saratov Airlines and carrying 65 passengers and 6 crew members — crashed outside Moscow on Sunday afternoon. Russia’s air transport agency said it lost radio contact a few minutes after take-off from Moscow’s Domodedovo airport.

A number of Russian officials, including Transportation Minister Maxim Sokolov and Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobiev, have arrived at the crash site. The debris was spotted from the air in the countryside near Argunovo village, local media reported.

Relatives of those killed in the crash began gathering at Orsk airport shortly after the accident was reported by Russian media, RIA Novosti reports. Psychologists have also arrived at the airport to give support where needed.</s>MOSCOW -- A Russian passenger plane believed to be carrying 71 people crashed Sunday afternoon near Moscow, shortly after takeoff from one of the city's airports. No survivors were immediately reported.

The An-148 regional jet disappeared from radar screens a few minutes after departing from Domodedovo Airport en route to the city of Orsk, some 1,500 kilometres (1,000 miles) southeast of Moscow. The plane reportedly belonged to Saratov Airlines, a Russian commercial carrier.

Plane fragments were found in the Ramenskoye area about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the airport. Footage on state television showed them strewn across a snowy field with no buildings nearby. It was unclear if there were any casualties among people on the ground at the crash site.

Russia's Investigative Committee said all possible crash causes were being looked into.

Shabby equipment and poor supervision had plagued Russian civil aviation for years after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, but its safety record has improved markedly in recent years.

The last large-scale crash in Russia occurred on Dec. 25, 2016, when a Tu-154 operated by the Russian Defence Ministry on its way to Syria crashed into the Black Sea minutes after takeoff from the southern Russian city of Sochi. All 92 people on board were killed.

In March 2016, a Boeing 737-800 flown by FlyDubai crashed while landing at Rostov-on-Don, killing all 62 people aboard.

An onboard bomb destroyed a Russian Metrojet airliner soon after taking off from Egypt's Sharm al-Sheikh resort, killing 244 people in October 2015.</s>The An-148 Saratov Airlines flight went off radar shortly after take-off from Moscow airport around 2.24pm local time, sources have confirmed. Local eyewitness to the tragedy reported seeing the burning plane “fall apart in the sky” with the wreckage spread over a large area, some 80 km from the capital. The plane is understood to have had 65 passengers and six crew members on board. A source told local media there were “no survivors”. Russian officials have confirmed the reports of the crash, but are yet to release an official statement to the press.

Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his condolences to the relatives of those lost in the crash. Mr Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said: "The president has instructed the government to set up a special commission over the plane crash in the Moscow region. "Putin also instructed relevant agencies to organise the search operation. "The president offers his profound condolences to those who lost their relatives in the crash.”

A ministry spokesman told Russia’s TASS news agency: “Fragments of the An-148 and several bodies plane have been found near the village of Stepanovskoye." Flight data collected by FlightRadar24 ADS-B network shows the 730 flight from Moscow to Orsk, losing altitude to minutes after take-off. The plummeting aircraft was losing as many as 22,000 feet per minute just before the crash.

Russia’s Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) confirmed that radio contact with the plane was lost several minutes after take off. TASS said: “The An-148 passenger plane of the Saratov Airlines [flight 730 from Moscow to Orsk] took off from the Domodedovo airport at 14:21 Moscow time. “According to preliminary data, there were 65 passengers and six crew members aboard the plane. “Radio contact with the plane was lost several minutes after the takeoff and the plane went out of the radars. It happened in Moscow region’s Ramensky district.”</s>The AN-148 aircraft had disappeared from radars shortly after taking off from Domodedovo Airport in Moscow.

An emergency services source told Tass news agency there are no survivors.

The Emergencies Ministry said it had sent crews to the crash site, in Stepanovskoye.

Russian media reports the crews could not get to the site by vehicle and had to go by foot.

Tass news agency added that Russian authorities have confirmed fragments of the plane have been found, around 40 kilometres from the airport in Moscow.

The domestic plane was being operated by Saratov airlines, and had 65 passengers on board, along with six crew members.

It was flying to Orsk, a city in the Urals.

According to Flight Radar it took off at 11.22am (local time) and five minutes later it was tracked descending rapidly before the signal was lost.

Witnesses in the village told local media they saw a burning plane falling from the sky.

In a tweet, showing two emergency vehicles, the ministry explained the recovery process would involve 150 people and 20 vehicles.

The Russian-made AN-148 was seven-years-old and was bought by the airline one year ago.
An Antonov An-148 of Saratov Airlines with 71 people on board crashes shortly after take-off from Domodedovo Airport, Moscow, Russia. The TASS agency cites an emergency source stating that none of the 65 passengers and 6 crew members has survived.