A Russian airliner that crashed shortly after take-off killing 31 on board had not been properly de-iced, the country's civil aviation head said tonight.

AN AGING Russian airliner went down in heavy fog and burst into flames just short of a runway in northwestern Russia, killing 44 people in a crash that officials blamed on pilot error.

A Russian passenger jet with at least 170 people aboard crashed in eastern Ukraine today, and a Russian news agency cited Ukrainian emergency officials as saying there were no survivors.

Ukraine today released what it called proof that one of their missiles was not to blame for bringing down a Russian airliner over the Black Sea.