Plane Crash Photos

Russian Investigations Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told reporters that a criminal case into the crash has been launched and various versions, including human error are being examined by the investigators, an IBN report stated.

The plane broke up into pieces and erupted into flames as it hit the ground, witnesses said.

The Tuploev-134 was a Soviet aircraft which took to the skies for the first time in 1967. However, it was unknown when the plane was manufactured.     

The aircraft's black boxes have been recovered. 

A policeman (C) stands at the site of a plane crash about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the runway at the airport outside the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk June 21, 2011. At least 44 people were killed when a passenger plane broke up and caught fire on coming into land in heavy fog in north-western Russia, an Emergency Ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY AND DEATH Personnel from the Russian emergency services work at the site of a plane crash about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the runway at the airport outside the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk June 21, 2011. At least 44 people were killed when a passenger plane broke up and caught fire on coming into land in heavy fog in north-western Russia, an Emergency Ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Personnel from the Russian emergency services work at the site of a plane crash about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the runway at the airport outside the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk June 21, 2011. At least 44 people were killed when the passenger plane broke up and caught fire on coming into land in heavy fog in north-western Russia, an Emergency Ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday.