Crashed Czech plane 'ignored warnings'

Investigators are looking for flight recorders at the crash site outside the Ukrainian capital Kiev where a small Czech plane crashed on Sunday evening killing five people aboard. The crew had been warned twice that the aircraft was going off course, but

Transport officials say the plane belonged to a Czech company.  All those on board – two pilots and three passengers – were Czech nationals.

There are three main versions of what could have caused the accident: foggy weather, a technical problem and pilot error.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry said the plane fell from a height of 2.5 kilometres and the people on board had no chance of surviving.

Investigators are checking if the pilots had been informed of landing procedures in foggy weather at Zhulyany airport on Kiev’s outskirts.

Ukrainian Emergencies Minister Nestor Shufrich praised emergency crews on the ground.  He said they'd put out a fire at the crash site within minutes and cordoned off the area.

“A special commission has been set up to investigate the accident. It is still too early to speak about the possible causes, but our main theory is that it was a human error,” Shurich said.  

The plane crashed into a little shed in a field, just 300 metres off a busy road and close to a residential area. Some witnesses say they saw the plane exploding just before in crashed.  

The aircraft was heading from the Czech city of Hradec Kralove to Kiev, where the passengers were reportedly planning to attend a business conference.