A passenger plane overshot a runway, crashed and burst into flames while landing on Saturday at a Moscow airport, killing at least three and seriously injuring four, dpa reported. The Tupolev Tu-204 jet operated by the charter airline Red Wings smashed through a perimeter fence and broke up into three pieces. There was no initial comment on the cause of the crash. Amateur video from the scene showed the cockpit section at rest on a main highway outside Vnukovo Airport. Eyewitnesses said two of the dead were wearing pilots' uniforms. Health authorities said a 27-year-old woman from the plane had died later in hospital, the Interfax news agency reported. Initial accounts of the total number of occupants on the flight from the Czech Republic varied from eight to 10, although the twin-engined Tu-204 can carry more than 200 passengers in some versions. Russian prosecutors said there had been eight occupants and one survivor was unhurt. Officials at Pardubice Airport, 100 kilometres east of Prague, in the Czech Republic said Red Wings had reported before take-off that the plane had 10 occupants, all of them crew. Red Wings belongs to a Russian oligarch, Alexander Lebedev. Officials said firefighters quickly extinguished the flames. One carriageway of the nearby highway was closed after the crash, prompting traffic jams. Moscow-bound flights were diverted another Moscow airport, Domodedovo, after the crash. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev appointed a commission of inquiry. Media said it would study if pilot error or technical failure was to blame.
