A RUSSIAN passenger plane has crashed and killed at least four people after overshooting a runway at a Moscow airport.

The airliner split into three pieces after it slid off the runway and crashed on to a highway.

Four crew members were killed as the Red Wings Tupolev-204 landed at Vnukovo airport. Its tail and cockpit had broken off but the fuselage was largely intact.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an investigation. Preliminary findings have pointed to pilot error as the cause of the crash.