Russian Plane Crashes Killing 71

A Russian-built airliner with 71 people on board crashed on Sunday shortly after take off from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, authorities said there were no survivors.

The aircraft, an Antonov An-148 twin-engined regional jet operated by Saratov Airlines, was on a flight to Orsk when it crashed just before 14.30 local time. Wreckage was spread over an area of more than a kilometre, about 80 km (50 miles) outside Moscow.

Weather at the time of the crash was minus 5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit) with some snow.

The An-148, carrying 65 passengers and 6 crew, was built in 2010, but only started flying with Saratov last year. Previously it was operated by Rossiya.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences and said a special commission would investigate the crash.