A plane flying from Armenia's capital, Yerevan, to the city of Sochi in southern Russia with 113 on board has crashed into the Black Sea.

Fifteen bodies have reportedly been recovered so far, but no survivors, as rescue teams work in bad conditions.

The Airbus A-320 plane from Armenia's Armavia airline disappeared from radar screens about 0215 (2215GMT Tuesday).

There is no confirmation of why the plane crashed though an Armavia official said bad weather was to blame.

According to a Russian emergency official, the aircraft "disappeared from radar screens as it was making another emergency landing attempt".

"It plunged into the sea at an angle of 60 degrees," Viktor Beltsov said.

Among those on board were eight crew and five children, he said.

A Russian air traffic control official, Alexander Neradko, told the Interfax news agency the aircraft had not sent any distress signals before it crashed.

Sochi is a popular Russian seaside resort, near the border with Georgia.

Unused jackets

Parts of the plane, engine fuel, human body parts, baggage and life jackets have been found in the water.

Rescuers said a large number of life jackets were unused, suggesting the crash happened too rapidly for passengers to put them on.

A number of rescue boats are at the scene, a few kilometres offshore, but their work is being hampered by heavy rain.

Fragments of the plane have been detected at a depth of 300 metres, 5km (three miles) from the coastline, Mr Beltsov said.

According to an official from Armavia, Andrei Aghajanov, the aircraft had initially been denied permission to land because of heavy rain.

However, he said, the airport then changed its mind and gave the go-ahead for the landing, the Reuters news agency reports.

"The plane was in an ideal technical condition, the crew was well qualified," Mr Aghajanov is quoted as saying.

PHOTO CAPTION

The is the 2004 photo of an A-320 Armavia plane similar to the plane which crushed near Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Wednesday, May 3, 2006. (AP)

BBC