Russian investigators say a defective brake system may be to blame for a Moscow plane crash that killed five crew members.

The Red Wings airliner crashed into a motorway and broke up into three pieces after overshooting the runway at Vnukovo airport on Saturday.

The plane's impact with the highway embankment sent the severed nose sliding over the icy road while the rest of the jet rested just past the airport's fence - its tail linked to the fuselage by only a tangle of wreckage.

On Sunday rescue workers recovered the flight recorders from the four-year-old Tu-204.

"The plane touched down in the proper landing area but for some reason was unable to stop on the strip," Federal Air Transport Agency chief Alexander Neradko said in televised remarks.

An unidentified source in the inquiry team told the Interfax news agency the brakes were to blame.

"According to preliminary data, the pilots used all the brake systems available on the plane," the source said.

"But for some reason, the machine failed to stop and continued moving.

"Most likely, the cause was defective reverse engines or brakes."

The jet split into three pieces and required the temporary shutdown of both the Kiev Highway and Vnukovo - Moscow's third largest airport and the site of a special terminal for Kremlin officials.

Red Wings says a flight attendant died of her injuries on Sunday, bringing the death toll to five.

Three others are recovering in stable condition.

Emergency services teams work at the Tu-204 jet crash site near the Vnukovo airport outside Moscow. ( AFP: Alexander Usoltsev )

A bigger loss of life was only averted because the 210-seat liner was empty except for the eight crew, who were returning from a charter flight to the Czech Republic.

Red Wings owner Alexander Lebedev - a billionaire famous for his critical view of the Kremlin and his ownership of the London Evening Standard and The Independent in Britain - says the jet had recently passed a meticulous check.

"Plane number 47 had accumulated 8,500 flight hours and underwent its last serious check on November 23," he tweeted.

He also suggested that traffic controllers' initial refusal to authorise landing - requiring the plane to complete several circles over Vnukovo - may have been a contributing factor.

"All machinery has its limits, even when it is new," Mr Lebedev wrote.

But Russian media says the authorities had concerns about the Tu-204 jet's ability to stop in various weather conditions even before Saturday's crash landing.

They cited a letter sent by the state aviation watchdog Rosaviatsya to the jet's maker on Friday, asking about an incident last week in which the engines failed to fire into reverse on landing.

The manoeuvre is required for the plane to slow down quickly upon touchdown.

The russianplanes.net aviation website says the very same jet suffered an engine failure and was forced to make an emergency landing in June 2009.

AFP