A HORROR plane crash is feared to have killed 16 parachute jumpers and injured seven others in Russia.

       The aircraft was carrying 23 people when it crashed in Tatarstan immediately after take off.

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       The plane crashed immediately after take off Credit: Reuters

       At least 16 people are believed to have died and seven more were injured, local media reports.

       The twin engine L-410 was being used to train parachutists from the Menzelinsky flying club.

       Some 20 of those on board were parachute jumpers, while the final two were crew members.

       Witnesses said the aircraft had just taken off and was flying over low trees when it crashed.

       The plane reportedly flew less than a mile before the fuselage broke apart and the plane fell to the ground.

       Shocking pictures from the scene show the mangled aircraft on the ground - while video shows rescuers clambering over the wreckage.

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       Air traffic control reported the plane had stopped communicating with the dispatcher before it suddenly disappeared from the radar screen.

       The aircraft appears to have come down in a lumber yard, with chopped up trees and heavy machinery visible in pictures from the scene.

       "At 09.23am a message was received about the crash of a light aircraft near the RES base in the city of Menzelinsk," said The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia.

       "Preliminary information, units of the Menzelinsk fire and rescue garrison are heading to the place of call."

       Rescuers are reported to be having trouble accessing the mangled wreck of the plane.

       The aircraft had been in operation since 1987.

       It previously flew in the Air Force of the USSR, then was in storage, and then was transferred to the sports organisation who has operated the plane since.

       Russian aviation safety standards have improved in recent years but accidents, especially involving ageing Soviet-era planes in far-flung regions, are not uncommon.

       An ageing Antonov An-26 transport plane crashed in the Russian far east last month killing six people.

       And all 28 people on board an Antonov An-26 twin-engine turboprop died in a crash in Kamchatka in July.

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       Rescuers can be seen clambering over the wreckage of the aircraft Credit: Twitter

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