An overloaded airplane in Russia crashed due to engine failure after taking off in Russia.
According to reports, the aircraft was carrying around 22 people when it crashed in Tatarstan after suffering an engine failure.
The authorities have confirmed the deaths of 16 people, which includes the pilot.
The 6 other passengers that survived are in critical condition and are in the hospital.
The authorities said that the twin engine L-410 was being used to train parachutists from the Menzelinsky Flying Club.
The members of the club had paid around £90 for a parachute jump – and two of the dead were reported to be women, while the rest were males.
Authorities identified the pilots as Mikhail Belyaev, pilot, 50, and Alexander Zykov, pilot, 51.
The authorities confirmed that the pilots heroically steered the aircraft away from houses on the ground before the crash happened.
A report from a local news agency claimed that the plane crashed because it was overloaded.
Witnesses said that the aircraft had just taken off and was flying over low trees when it crashed.
The airplane had only flew less than a mile before the fuselage broke apart and the plane started to fall, eventually hitting the ground.
Images that were shared on social media shows how the aircraft was left in pieces.
Eyewitness Oksana said:
I started taking photos, after (my husband) said it was falling. We were around the petrol station at that moment. We turned around and drove there. And it was on fire [after crash], well, actually there was no fire but smoke. My husband pulled out a fire extinguisher, and then people started pulling out [victims].
The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia released a statement about the incident, saying:
At 09.23am a message was received about the crash of a light aircraft near the RES base in the city of Menzelinsk. Preliminary information, units of the Menzelinsk fire and rescue garrison are heading to the place of call.
The aircraft that crashed had been operating since 1987.
The airplane once flew in the USSR Air Force and was later placed in storage.
After some time, it was transferred to the sports organization, who had been operating the aircraft since then.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victims of the airplane crash, may their souls rest in peace.