The plane carrying Russian ice hockey team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl only managed to climb six meters (20 feet) off the ground before it crashed earlier this month, killing 44 people, the Ria Novosti news agency reported Sunday.
Investigators said the Yak-42 plane reached a maximum speed of 143 mph (230 kph) in Sept. 7's botched takeoff near Yaroslavl.
After failing to lift from the runway, the plane took to the air some 400 meters into an extended safety area before rolling to the left, striking a navigation beacon mast and crashing to the ground.
The entire Lokomotiv team, which was traveling to the Belarus capital of Minsk for its Kontinental Hockey League season-opener, lost their lives. The only survivor from the chartered flight, crew member Alexander Sizov, remains in intensive care.
The Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) said it was keeping an open mind while investigating what caused the accident.
"The technical commission is studying all possible reasons for why [an] additional deceleration force appeared during the ground run and why the plane failed to lift off from the runway in time," MAK said Sunday.
