Russian military plane crashes in Black Sea near Sochi

File photo of Tu-154 aircraft. [Photo/Xinhua]

A Russian Defence Ministry plane that had disappeared from radar over the Black Sea with 91 people on board has crashed, Russian media reported on Sunday, citing an unidentified source.

A rescue team had found the crash site in the Black Sea near the coast of the Sochi.

The wreckage of?the aircraft has been found in the Black Sea, Defense Ministry authorities said Sunday.

The flight carrying dozens of people has vanished from the radar screens after departing from the resort city of Sochi, Russian media reported Sunday, citing preliminary findings.

A total of 91 people were on board the Tu-154 aircraft, including musicians and media representatives, the Sputnik news agency quoted a security service source as saying.

"Fragments of the Russian Defense Ministry's TU-154 aircraft were discovered in 1.5 kilometers from the Black Sea shore of Sochi at a depth of 50-70 meters," the ministry's press service said.

The plane was conducting a routine flight to Russia's Hmeimim air base near Latakia, said the ministry, adding that among those on board were Russian servicemen and members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, the Russian army's official choir, who were headed to the base for New Year celebrations.

There were also nine media representatives on board, the ministry noted.

Russia's Investigative Committee said it has launched a criminal case over the crash.

Based on preliminary information, the misfortune was caused by technical malfunction or pilot error, a law enforcement source was quoted as saying.

The vanished airplane is not a civilian one, according to Russian aviation and emergency ministry authorities.

The Tu-154 is a three-engine medium-range airliner produced by Russian aerospace and defense company Tupolev. It is one of the fastest civilian aircraft in use and widely used in extreme Arctic conditions.