Video footage captured by a camera mounted on the dashboard of a passing car showed the Tupolev-204 aircraft hurtling into view, before colliding with a motorway barrier.

Rescue workers recovered the flight recorders late on Saturday from the Tu-204, belonging to Red Wings airlines, owned by Alexander Lebedev, the oligarch owner of the Independent and London Evening Standard newspapers.

"The plane touched down in the proper landing area but for some reason was unable to stop on the strip," Federal Air Transport Agency chief Alexander Neradko said.

An unidentified source in the inquiry told Russia's Intefax news agency: "According to preliminary data, the pilots used all the brake systems available on the plane.

"But for some reason, the machine failed to stop and continued moving" down the runway. "Most likely, the cause was defective reverse engines or brakes."

A bigger loss of life was only averted because the 210-seat liner was empty except for eight crew on their return from a charter flight to the Czech Republic.

The jet split into three pieces and required the temporary shutdown of both the Kiev Highway and Vnukovo - Moscow's third largest airport.

Red Wings owner Mr Lebedev said the jet had recently passed a meticulous check.

"Plane number 47 had accumulated 8,500 flight hours and underwent its last serious check on November 23," Mr Lebedev wrote on Twitter.

He also suggested that traffic controllers' initial refusal to authorise landing -- requiring the plane to complete several circles over Vnukovo -- may have been a contributing factor.

"All machinery has its limits, even when it is new." he said.

Russian media said the authorities had concerns about the Tu-204 jet's ability to stop in various weather conditions even before Saturday's crash landing.

They cited a letter sent by the state aviation watchdog to the jet's maker on Friday asking about an incident last week in which the engines failed to fire into reverse on landing, a manoeuvre required for the plane to slow down quickly upon touchdown.

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