November 1, 2009 11 Russian crew members killed in military plane crash Play video

(NECN/CH1) - A Russian heavy-lift military cargo plane crashed on takeoff in Siberia on Sunday, killing all 11 crew members on board, officials said.

The four-engine plane had just taken off from Mirny in the Sakha republic when it tilted to the right and was unable to gain altitude, according to a spokesman for the Interior Troops, which were flying the aircraft.

The Il-76 crashed about a mile from the runway, hitting a slag heap from an old mine and exploding on impact, he said.

The plane, which was headed to Irkutsk, was carrying no cargo but its fuel tanks were full.

No one on the ground was reported hurt. The cause of Sunday's crash was not yet known.

Flying conditions were good, with clear skies, light winds and temperatures of minus -11 Fahrenheit (minus 24 Celsius), the spokesman said. Federal investigators were on the scene and said they had recovered the aircraft's flight recorders.

The crash was the second in less than a month to involve an Il-76 , the mainstay of the Soviet and Russian air force since the 1970s.

The air force had temporarily grounded all Il-76 aircraft after an engine broke off the wing of a plane on 7 October as the pilot engaged full throttle in preparation for takeoff.