A passenger plane carrying more than 100 people crashed shortly after take off from Havana’s main airport, killing most on board.

Local media reported that three survivors – all women – were in a critical condition after the Boeing 737 jet, which was en route from Jose Marti International Airport to the eastern Cuban city of Holguin, came down.

Conflicting reports suggested between 104 and 110 passengers and crew were on flight CU972, which had been scheduled to depart at 11am local time (4pm BST) and land an hour and 20 minutes later.

But the jet failed to make its destination and came down close to its departure airport, crashing into a field and railway line.

Photos posted on social media showed a large plume of thick, black smoke rising from near the terminal buildings.

"The only thing we heard, when we were checking in, an explosion, the lights went out in the airport and we looked out and saw black smoke rising and they told us a plane had crashed," Argentine tourist Brian Horanbuena said..

The aircraft involved is believed to be a Boeing 737-200 on loan from a Mexican airline, Global Aerolineas Damojh of Guadalajara.

The plane was one of the oldest commercial aircraft in service — almost 39 years old. It was first flown by the US airline, Piedmont, in 1979, and had flown for many other carriers.

Reports say it lost height shortly after take off and crashed in woodland close to the airport.

Footage from scene of plane crash in Havana, Cuba

Havana’s airport is a short way southwest of the Cuban capital, and has pockets of population nearby as well as a major highway near one end of the runway.

There is concern that people on the ground may be among the casualties.

Residents of the rural area said they had seen some survivors being taken away in ambulances.

State TV said nine foreign crew were on board, as well as the passengers, while Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, said he feared there would be many fatalities.

Emergency personnel at the site of the accident near Havana’s Jose Marti airport (AFP)

Crash investigators are at the scene alongside police and firefighters.

What appears to be a charred wing and other parts from the plane were scattered on the ground.

A post on Cubana’s website urged families of the passengers to contact the airline using two telephone numbers.

​Plane tracking app FlightRadar24 showed an American Airlines jet having departed from the airport shortly after the crash, suggesting the runway remained open, however it was closed a short time later.

Cuban state media originally reported that the aircraft had been chartered from an Italian carrier, Blue Panorama. That airline is operating flights for Cubana, but the aircraft involved in the accident appears to have belonged to a Mexican carrier, Global Air.

The 420-mile flight to Holguin was scheduled to take just over an hour. Given the destination – a large city in the east of the island – it is likely to have had a mix of families, tourists, business travellers and government officials on board.

In the last three years of the 20th century alone, Cuba suffered four fatal accidents, and in 2010 a domestic passenger flight crashed, killing all 61 passengers and 7 crew members aboard.

The aircraft involved in the accident is believed to have belonged to Mexican carrier Global Air (Victor Ambriz)

Cubana de Aviación, the national airline, has had a troubled history. As a result of the US economic embargo, the airline has been largely reliant on Russian and European aircraft. Maintenance of its relatively elderly fleet has been a constant challenge.

The practice of chartering in aircraft and crew, known as “wet leasing”, is widely used around the world.

In 1999, a DC-10 jet belonging to the French airline, AOM, suffered a fatal accident while flying for Cubana. After a flight from Havana it overshot the runway at Guatemala City.

Cuba air tragedies: a timeline