42 killed in Northeast China plane crash

This December 2009 photo released by Xinhua shows a Henan Airlines plane, reported by China's news agency to be the same model of aircraft that crashed Tuesday at an airport in Heilongjiang province.

Chinese state media states around 42 people are dead after a Henan Airlines plane with 91 people on board overshot a runway and burst into flames in northeast China.

The crash took place at the Lindu airport in Yichun city in Heilongjiang province at 10:10 p.m. local time, the official Xinhua news agency said. The plane left Heilongjiang's capital of Harbin just before 9 p.m. local time.

The bodies of 42 passengers killed in the crash were recovered along with the black box containing the flight recorder from the debris of the Brazilian-made Embraer E-190 jet, said the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC).

Wang Xuemei, the vice-mayor of Yichun, told state television broadcaster CCTV that 49 people, including three who were seriously injured, had been taken to hospital.

Henan Airlines operates smaller regional jets, mainly on routes in north and northeast China.