A preliminary analysis of the An-26 military airplane crash in northeastern Ukraine suggests that it most likely caught its wing on the ground, Defense Minister Andriy Taran said on Saturday.

A preliminary assessment of flight safety experts showed that the aircraft did not fail with the left engine, as previously reported, but one of its sensors, according to the Defense Ministry's website.

Meanwhile, final conclusions regarding the causes of the plane crash can be made after decoding the black box, which is still on the plane, Taran said.

The minister also said that the crashed An-26 was manufactured in 1977 and its left engine had more than 5,000 flight hours in reserve before the next repair.

The State Bureau of Investigations reported that officials are studying four versions of the crash – technical malfunction of the aircraft's units, improper performance of the crew's duties, improper performance of the duties by persons who were responsible for flight control, and improper maintenance of the aircraft and its preparation for flight.

The military aircraft with 27 people on board crashed on Friday. The plane was performing a training flight and was landing at the airfield of a military base near the city of Chuguev, Kharkiv region. So far 26 people have died in the crash. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared Saturday to be a day of mourning for the crash victims and ordered that flights of An-26 planes be halted pending the outcome of the investigation into the cause of the crash.

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(With inputs from Xinhua)