A criminal case was launched into Saturday’s crash of a small plane near Moscow, in which two people died, the Russian Investigative Committee said.

"A criminal case was launched under part 3, article 263 of the Russian Criminal Code (Violation of the Rules for Traffic Safety and Operation of the Railway, Air, or Water Transportation Systems)," the committee said.

On Saturday, a privately owned twin-seat Evektor-Aerotechnik SportStar plane, which took off from the Chernogolovka airfield, crashed into a flooded sand pit near the village of Dushonovo. The plane’s pilot and owner, born in 1969, and his passenger, died. Plane wreckage and a deployed parachute were found on the water surface.

A spokesperson for the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor`s Office, Yekaterina Korotkova, said no permissions to fly in the crash zone had been issued.

"The plane presumably took off from Chernogolovka. According to preliminary information, permissions for a flight in this area were not issued," she said, adding that a prosecutor’s investigation is under way.

The press service of Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) said the circumstances surrounding the accident are being established.