Russia's Emergencies Ministry says a passenger plane has crashed near Moscow and fragments of it have... (Associated Press) 
 
 MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian passenger plane carrying 71 people crashed near Moscow shortly after taking off from one of the city's airports Sunday. Temperatures were around minus 5 degrees Celsius with periodic snowfall when the short-haul AN-148 operated by Saratov Airlines took off for the city of Orsk in Orenburg region, about 900 miles (1,500 km) southeast of the capital. He did not give the number of people on board, but Russian news reports said the plane carried 65 passengers and six crew members. 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. Wreckage from the plane was reported to be spread over a large area and it was unclear if there were any casualties among people on the ground. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, expressed his condolences to the families and friends of those who died in the crash and ordered the government to set up a special commission to investigate. A source from Russia’s emergency services told Interfax the 71 people on board had no chance of survival. TV images of the crash site showed wreckage of the plane, including at least one engine, lying in fields covered with thick snow. 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. Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said Sunday afternoon that "judging by everything, no one has survived this crash." The transport ministry said several causes for the crash were being considered, including weather conditions and human error. Andrei Odintsov, the mayor of Orsk told Russian state television that six psychologists and four ambulances with medics were working with the relatives in the small airport. 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. In March 2016, all 62 passengers died when a FlyDubai jet crashed in bad weather during an aborted landing at Rostov-on-Don airport.
– The unfortunate big development after Sunday's crash of a passenger jet outside Moscow comes from the country's transportation minister. "Judging by everything, no one has survived this crash," says Maxim Sokolov. Here is what is known: The victims: Sixty-five passengers and six crew members were aboard the plane, and the BBC reports that most of the passengers were from the Russian region of Orenburg in the Ural mountains. The cause: Way too early to tell. Investigators are looking into weather conditions (it was about 23 degrees Fahrenheit), human error, and the technical condition of the Antonov An-148 airliner, reports Reuters. But Russia's Investigative Committee wasn't ruling anything out at this point, reports the AP. After takeoff: The plane went down shortly after takeoff from Domodedovo Airport en route to Orsk, about 1,000 miles southeast of Moscow. Fragments of the plane were scattered about a large, remote region near the village of Argunovo. Engine explosion? The Guardian cites unconfirmed reports in Russian media that the captain had requested permission for an emergency landing at a nearby airport after reporting a technical malfunction. Witnesses reported seeing the plane in flames as it fell, leading to speculation that an engine had exploded before the crash. End of streak: This is the first crash of a commercial airliner in more than a year, following a sterling aviation record in 2017, notes the BBC. Putin: He offered his condolences to the families of victims and delayed a trip to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where he planned to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Monday.