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Faulty manoeuvres caused Russian plane crash: investigators

The Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee, which oversees civil
flights in much of the former Soviet Union, said the plane's engines and
other systems were working fine until the moment the plane hit the
ground Sunday night.

It said the plane's two pilots had failed to make a proper landing approach on the first attempt and then began a second run.

They put the plane's engines on maximum power, raising the plane's nose up at a sharp angle, causing a quick loss of speed.

At the height of about 700 metres, the crew then tried to gain speed by
taking the plane into a dive but hit the ground at a near-vertical
angle in a spectacular crash.

The report drew its conclusions from data retrieved from one of the
plane's onboard recorders. It said the climb and the subsequent plunge
lasted only about one minute.

The plane struck the ground at about 450 kilometres per hour, the report said.