Within minutes of taking off from Moscow, a Russian passenger plane crashed into the snow, killing all 71 on board.

Sky News Moscow Correspondent Diana Magnay reports from the scene of the recovery operation, where crews are working in extreme conditions to investigate the disaster.

The crash site's proximity to Moscow - some 60km (37 miles) by road from Moscow's Domodedovo airport - at least means relatively fast access for emergency personnel.

Not that this was ever anything other than a recovery operation - not given the speed of the plane's descent in its final moments, dropping 40 metres per second, according to the flight radar tracker.

Crash debris strewn over snowy area

But perhaps better here than in a more remote corner of this vast country and an even longer wait for anguished relatives.


:: No survivors after Russian passenger plane crashes near Moscow

The small lane leading up towards the village of Argunovo has turned into a heavy machinery highway.

Image: Diana Magnay reports from the scene of a plane crash in Russia

Snowploughs, tractors and lorries filled with emergency committee personnel queued one behind the other.

Weaving their way through, the odd Mercedes fitted with blue emergency sirens carryied an official to the site, the odd rust-bucket rumbled through the snow - presumably a local trying to get home - and more than a few snowmobiles dragged sledges loaded with gear.

We journalists are told to go by foot and there is only so far we can go.

Image: Some 36 flashlight towers will help crews work through the night

We are kept away from the crash site itself, where the emergency ministry says it has installed 36 flashlight towers so that crews can work through the night.

It is minus four degrees for this most miserable of tasks but at least the snow has stopped.

CCTV footage from a house in the village shows the plane coming down.

A distant fireball flares against a white snowscape - a children's swing in the foreground making this awful moment all the more surreal.

Image: Debris is scattered around the field

Domodedovo airport is a one of this country's principal transport hubs.

Russia's smaller, regional carriers are not renowned for their impeccable safety standards but the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency says Saratov Airlines has had no safety problems of late.

And it is the only operator along the Moscow-Orsk route.

Often there are no other options.