A United Nations plane has crashed in the Democratic Republic of Congo killing all but one of the 33 passengers on board.

The incident happened as the small passenger plane was coming in to land at the main airport in the capital Kinshasa on Monday.

"We can confirm only one survivor out of the 33 people on board the plane," UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.

The Security Council expressed its "deepest condolences" to the families of those who died.

US Ambassador Susan Rice issued a separate statement, saying "the loss of humanitarians and peacekeepers is a tragedy for the United Nations".

The operator of the plane, Georgian flag carrier Airzena Georgian Airways, said the crew was Georgian.

UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said there had been four crew members, and that all but five of the 29 passengers were believed to be UN personnel.

The others worked for non-governmental organisations.

Mr Le Roy said the plane, a Bombardier CRJ-200 jet, had missed the runway - probably due to wind.

The UN's 19,000-strong peacekeeping mission is backing Congo Government efforts to fight rebel groups that have been hitting the country's troubled east since a 1998-2003 civil war that killed five million people.