Russian authorities gave different figures about how many people were onboard, said Xinhua. The Russian emergency situations ministry said there were 55 passengers and 4 crew members, while the Russian transport ministry said there were 55 passengers and 7 crew members.
Russia's emergency situations ministry said the aircraft crashed at 03:50 (0030 GMT) at the airport in Rostov at the end of a flight from Dubai.
The aircraft had to abandon an initial attempt to land and came down while making a repeat attempt, according to a ministry statement.
State news agency Sputnik reported the airport would be closed until 6 am Moscow Time (11 am Beijing Time).
The crash reportedly happened due to low visibility and all those passengers onboard were Russians, according to Xinhua.
The Chinese embassy in Russia confirmed through the Russian government that there were no Chinese on board the plane that crashed, according to Xinhua News Agency.
The plane belongs to flydubai, a budget airline based in Dubai.
Emergency workers have arrived at the scene and the cause of the crash is under investigation.
A chronology of major air disasters since 1998:
On Oct 31, 2015, an Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia, crashes over central Sinai some 22 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people onboard.
On June 30, 2015, Indonesian Hercules C-130 military transport plane crashes into a residential area of Medan, killing all 122 people onboard, along with at least 19 on the ground.
On March 24, 2015, Germanwings Airbus A320 airliner crashes in the French Alps near Digne, on a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, killing all 148 people onboard.
On Dec 28, 2014, AirAsia QZ8501 flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore goes missing over the Java sea. The pilot radioed for permission to divert around bad weather but no mayday alert was issued. There were 162 passengers and crew onboard.
On July 24, 2014, an Air Algerie flight, a MD-83 aircraft, crashes in Mali, killing 110 passengers and six Spanish crew.
On July 23, 2014, a ATR-72 plane crashed on western Taiwan's Penghu Island amid stormy weather, killing 48 people and injuring 10 others.
On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, a Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, went down in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.
On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished with 239 people aboard, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
On Feb. 11, 2014, 76 people were killed when a C-130 Hercules military plane belonging to the Algerian Air Force crashed in the country's eastern Oum El Bouaghi province.
On June 3, 2012, a Dana Air plane from Nigeria's capital city Abuja crashed in a residential area in the Lagos metropolis, killing the 153 people on board and 40 others living inside a two-story building hit by the aircraft.
On July 28, 2010, an Airblue Flight ED-202 crashed into the Margalla Hills in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, killing all the 152 people aboard.
On May 22, 2010, at least 158 people were killed when an Air India Express plane from Dubai overshot the runway during landing and crashed near Mangalore airport in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
On May 12, 2010, a passenger plane of Libya's Afriqiyah Airways crashed on landing at Tripoli airport, killing all of the 103 people on board except an 8-year-old Dutch boy.
On April 10, 2010, 96 people aboard Polish President Lech Kaczynski's official Tupolev Tu-154 plane were killed in a crash near Smolensk airport in western Russia. The plane was carrying Kaczynski, his wife Maria and a large number of senior Polish officials.
On July 15, 2009, an Iranian passenger plane crashed near the country's northwestern city of Gazvin, killing all 168 people on board.
On June 30, 2009, an Airbus A310 crashed into the Indian Ocean as it approached the airport on the Comoros Islands, killing 152 people on board. only a 13-year-old French girl survived.
On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, went down over the Atlantic Ocean after leaving Rio de Janeiro for Paris, killing all 228 people on board.
On May 20, 2009, an Indonesian Air Force Hercules C-130 crashed and burned in Magetan, East Java, killing at least 96 people and injuring 15 others.
On Aug 20, 2008, 154 people died and 18 others were injured when a 15-year-old plane crashed and burst into flames during takeoff in Madrid.
