The crash happened at 1031 local time [0931 GMT]. The plane was making its final approach to runway 18R when it crash landed in a ploughed field close to the A9 motorway.

It broke into three pieces but did not catch fire.

Helpers arrived at the scene very quickly and gave first aid on the spot.

Officials have now confirmed that at least nine people have died and some 50 injured, 25 of them severely. Both pilots and a trainee pilot were among the dead.

'It completely lost propulsion'

A student who witnessed the crash said the plane appeared to be gliding into the airport without engine power.

Tomas Friedhoff told the BBC: "At first it didn't seem that odd because it was flying low but aeroplanes do that around Schiphol.

"At a certain point I realised I was hearing engine noise, but it wasn't coming from that plane.

"It was gliding through the air trying to make the runway. It completely lost propulsion or couldn't glide anymore, and you clearly saw it come down several tens of metres and come to a quite sudden stop," he added.

Chris Yates, an aviation safety analyst for Jane's, the defence and security group, said the plane appeared "to have lost propulsion before it crashed."

This could have been due to it being low on fuel, he said.

"There have been instances of airlines fueling with the legal minimum. It may be that the fuel gauges were not working and the pilot thought he had more fuel than he actually had."

Sudden loss of power at such a low altitude could have led to the plane stalling, losing height very quickly.

"The stall warning beepers would have gone off, but at a low height it's nigh on impossible to recover. You don't have forward speed or height to reach your runway and the only place is down, very heavily," Mr Yates said.

The fact that no fire broke out on impact has prompted some to support the "low on fuel" theory.