Four children among 62 killed in Russian plane disaster: Rescue crews wade through wreckage of obliterated Boeing 737 passenger jet that crashed in a fireball as it tried to land in horrendous storm

• FlyDubai flight FZ981 was attempting a second landing at Rostov-on-Don in Russia when it crashed near the runway
• Plane's tail smashed into the ground causing the aircraft to break down and burst into flames as it came into land
• Four children, 33 women and 18 men were passengers with the majority of people from Russia, along with seven crew
• CCTV camera captured the moment the aircraft exploded on the runway as a large fireball spreads through nearby trees

By Lydia Willgress and Darren Boyle for MailOnline and Regina F. Graham For Dailymail.com

More than 60 people have died after a FlyDubai passenger jet smashed into the ground while attempting to land at a Russian airport.

Flight FZ981 was carrying 55 passengers and seven crew members from Dubai when it crashed at Rostov-on-Don airport around 4am Moscow time. 

Four children were among those killed in the smash, which happened as the plane attempted to land for a second time in bad weather conditions. Thirty-three women and 18 men were also travelling.

More than 60 people have died after a FlyDubai passenger jet smashed into the ground while attempting to land at a Russian airport. Above, rescuers from the Emergency Ministry were spotted searching through the wreckage on Saturday morning 

This is believed to be the moment the crash happened as the plane came in to land at Rostov-on-Don airport in Russia early on Saturday morning

The plane went up in flames after its tail hit the runway and disintegrated, a statement released by Russia's Emergencies Ministry confirmed. Pilot error or a technological failure are thought to be the two main causes being investigated. 

The aircraft was predominantly carrying Russian passengers, although eight Ukrainians, two Indians and one person from Uzbekistan were also on board.

Emergency services were this morning at the airport attempting to clear up the debris from the Boeing 737.

Photographs showed officials standing in thick fog and rain as they scoured the crash site. 

Meanwhile, relatives were pictured sobbing at the airport as FlyDubai began to contact families about the crash.

A statement from the aircraft said: 'We are currently contacting relatives of the passengers and crew who were on board and we are offering any help we can to those affected.' 

Relatives were pictured sobbing at the airport as FlyDubai began to contact families about the crash, which took the lives of four children

The aircraft was predominantly carrying Russian passengers, although eight Ukrainians, two Indians and one person from Uzbekistan were also on board. Above, a relative waits for information at the airport on Saturday morning 

Another girl covered her face with her hands as she cried while waited at the airport following the crash on Saturday morning 

A man reads the passengers' list of the FlyDubai jet that crashed in the early hours of Saturday morning as he waits for news at the airport

It comes as YouTube footage released this morning appears to show a fireball as the aircraft crashes into the ground. 

The grainy black and white footage allegedly shows the plane plummeting towards the ground before a large fireball spreads through the nearby trees. 

Smoke can be seen rising into the dark sky as cars drive past the burning wreckage. 

A seven-minute recording allegedly from traffic control tapes on Saturday morning appeared to show the pilots chatting normally to officials as they discussed the weather. 

The pilots are asked repeatedly about their visibility and can be heard saying it is around 5km.  

FlyDubai confirmed it was investigating the incident with officials on scene 'trying to establish the facts'.

Emergency services were at the airport early on Saturday morning as they attempted to clear up the debris from the Boeing 737

Shocking photographs taken of the scene on Saturday morning showed how the plane had been obliterated in the crash 

Up to 80 people are thought to have been deployed to the scene as they desperately try and search the wreckage

The plane appears to have disintegrated after hitting the ground, with a piece of the fuselage scattered across the crash site 

The crash site was left muddy and wet after a night of bad weather, which had not cleared in the morning as officials tried to search through the wreckage

Russian Emergency Situations Ministry employees and police officers are pictured on their way to the plane crash 

Footage from aircraft data website FlightRadar 24 shows the aircraft made one attempt to land before it declared a missed approach and circled the airport for a second attempt

FROM THE SHARM EL-SHEIKH CRASH TO SEVERAL FAILED LANDINGS: HOW RUSSIAN AVIATION HAS BEEN TAINTED BY A NUMBER OF MAJOR CRASHES 

This morning's crash will be added to a long list of tragedies that have tainted Russian aviation. 

There have been more than 10 major plane crashes in the last ten years, with around 1,000 passengers dying as a result of them. 

They include: 

• May 3 2006: An A-320 of the Armenian airline Armavia crashes into the Black Sea while trying to land in the Russian resort city of Sochi in rough weather, killing all 113 people on board.
• July 9 2006: At least 124 people die when an Airbus A-310 of the Russian company S7 skids off the runway in the Siberian city of Irkutsk and bursts into flames. 
• September 14 2008: Eighty-eight people are killed when a Boeing 737-500 flying from Moscow crashes as it prepares to land in the Russian city of Perm. 
• April 10 2010: A Polish government plane carrying president Lech Kaczynski and 95 others crashes while attempting to land in Smolensk; all die. Warsaw and Moscow continue to dispute whether the crew ignored poor weather conditions or if air-traffic controllers gave poor guidance. 
• June 20 2011: Forty-seven people die when a Tu-134 crashes on a motorway in heavy fog while trying to land in Petrozavodsk.
• October 31 2015: An onboard bomb destroys a Metrojet airliner soon after taking off from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort. All 244 people on board die. 

A statement released on Saturday morning added: 'Chief Executive Officer Ghaith Al Ghaith, with the support of the full management team, is leading our response to the accident. 

'At this stage the focus of our efforts is on establishing the facts around the incident and providing all possible support to the authorities. Our emergency response team are now en-route to Rostov-on-Don.' 

Footage from aircraft data website FlightRadar 24 shows the aircraft made one attempt to land before it declared a missed approach and circled the airport for a second attempt. 

Russian officials confirmed: 'According to preliminary data, the Boeing 738 crashed in poor visibility conditions, some 50 to 100m left of the runway.'

FlyDubai had confirmed in an earlier statement that the flight crashed 'on landing and that fatalities have been confirmed as a result of this tragic accident.'

They added: 'We are doing all we can to gather information as quickly as possible.

'At this moment our thoughts and prayers are with our passengers and our crew who were on board the aircraft.

Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov told media during a press conference that the plane crashed at 8.50pm ET, which is 3.50am Moscow time. Pictured above are emergency vehicles at the scene of the crash

The passenger jet was believed to be flying in poor visibility during the landing attempts. Pictured above are emergency vehicles at the scene of the crash

Emergency crews worked at the crash scene (above) overnight in a bid to extinguish the fire. They were successful and by first light the plane was no longer alight 

Governor of Rostov region Vasily Golubev (above) talks to the media in a terminal of Rostov-on-Don airport about the plane crash. He was quoted by Russian news agencies as telling local journalists that the plane crashed about 250 metres (800 feet) short of the runway

The latest FlyDubai statement revealed the aircraft were contacting relatives of passengers following the crash 

'We will do everything we can to help those who have been affected by this accident.

'We are putting our emergency response in place and we will be working closely with all the authorities involved. 

'We will share as much information as possible just as soon as we can and we will provide updated information on a regular basis.' 

Boeing also issued a statement about Flight FZ981 in the early hours of Saturday morning. 

It said: 'Boeing's thoughts and prayers are with those on board FlyDubai flight FZ981 and their families and friends.

'Boeing stands ready to provide technical assistance upon the request of government agencies conducting the investigation.

'In accordance with the international protocol governing aviation accident investigations, all inquiries about the investigation must be directed to investigating authorities.'  

Roughly 80 rescuers were deployed to the site of the crash overnight and terrorism as a cause of the crash at this stage has been ruled out, according to CNN. 

Vasily Golubev, the governor of the Rostov region, told journalists that the plane crashed about 250m (800ft) short of the runway.

Golubev added: 'By all appearances, the cause of the air crash was the strongly gusting wind, approaching a hurricane level.'

Emergency services staff organizes measures in connection with the crash of Fly Dubai Flight FZ981 in Rostov-on-Don airport

The Russian Investigation Committee has launched a preliminary investigation into the accident.

The budget carrier FlyDubai launched in 2009, with a network of up to 90 destinations. They operate more than 1,700 flights each week.

Its Facebook page says: 'From our hub in Dubai, we strive to remove barriers to travel and enhance connectivity between different cultures across our ever-expanding network.

'Our agility and flexibility as a young airline has enhanced Dubai's economic development, in line with the Government of Dubai's vision, by creating trade and tourism flows in previously under-served markets.'