Sunday February 11, 2018
By Matt Clinch
Passenger aircraft operated by S7 Airlines and Saratov Airlines stand before flight at Domodedovo Airport ZAO in Domodedovo, Russia, on Friday, April 21, 2017. Domodedovo, also known as Moscow Airport, is owned by Russian billionaire Dmitry Kamenshchik. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg
A jet operated by Saratov Airlines crashed in the Moscow region on Sunday, killing all 71 people on board, according to Russian news agencies.
Russia's Interfax news outlet reported that the Orsk-bound 148-jet went off radar shortly after departing from Moscow's Domodedovo Airport and later said eyewitnesses saw a burning airplane fall to the ground in the Moscow region.
"Debris has been found, there are no survivors," news agency TASS quoted a source as saying. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash which was reported to have been in the Ramenskoye district of the Moscow region.
There were 65 passengers and six crew members on board and there were no survivors from the crash, according to TASS, who cited a source from the emergency services.
Interfax added, citing the Russian Transport Ministry, that several theories for the crash were being considered, including weather conditions and a human factor.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences on the deaths of the people in the crash and has instructed the government to create a special commission to investigate the incident, TASS said, citing the presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
—Reuters contributed to this report.