Russia hunts for body parts, clues after plane crash that killed 71

A Russian passenger plane carrying 71 people crashed outside Moscow on Sunday after taking off from the capital’s Domodedovo airport, killing everyone on board.

Emergency workers in Russia searched snow-covered fields outside Moscow on Monday, looking for body parts and clues after a fatal plane crash a day earlier killed all 71 people on board.

A part of a Saratov Airlines Antonov AN-148 plane that crashed after taking off from Moscow's Domodedovo airport, is seen at the scene of the incident outside Moscow, Russia February 11, 2018. (REUTERS)

President Vladimir Putin has ordered a special commission to investigate what caused the AN-148 plane operated by Saratov Airlines to crash outside Moscow shortly after taking off for the city of Orsk in the Orenburg region, about 1,500 kilometres southeast of the capital.

Among the possible causes investigators are looking into are weather conditions, human error and the plane’s technical condition. The plane’s crew did not send any distress signals.

Experts are analysing a flight recorder recovered in the wreckage as well as plane fragments. Footage from a CCTV camera which captured some of what happened was posted online on Monday. It showed what looked like a large ball of fire streaking through the sky.

Russian emergency vehicles arrive near to the site of air crash outside Moscow on February 11, 2018.

Debris and human remains are spread over a radius of a kilometre around the crash site, investigators have said.

In this screen grab provided by the Life.ru, the wreckage of a AN-148 plane is seen in Stepanovskoye village, about 40 kilometers from the Domodedovo airport, Russia.

The plane, manufactured in 2010, had been carrying 65 passengers and six crew. The passenger list showed many young people were on board, including a five-year-old girl.