According to the reports, the Soviet-era Antonov-12 pummeled into a grove of fruit trees on the sparsely populated east side of the Nile river on Wednesday morning.
It was unclear exactly how many people were on board.
Minister of Transportation Kuong Danhier Gatluak said 36 people were killed, and more may be unaccounted for. Authorities are still investigating the cause.
Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny confirmed that the plane was heading for the Paloich oil fields in the country's north. He said there were 18 people on board the aircraft when it crashed, including 12 South Sudanese, and six members of an Armenian and Russian crew.
Ateny said three South Sudanese survived, including an infant, and 10 more people were killed on the ground.
He added that the company was illegally carrying passengers on a cargo flight. "It is the problem for the company now to address," he said.
The spokesman said a local businessman chartered the flight, but had no more information.
Bodies were found on the muddy riverside along with the craft's cargo, rubber flip flops, medicine, tires, and cans of beer and energy drinks.
Barefoot responders gathered the sandals and wore them to be able to access the uninhabited, swampy crash site.
The front of the fuselage was destroyed and the wings were torn off, with propellers mangled in the mud.
Only the tail, marked with the logo of Allied Services Limited, a Tajikstan charter company operating in South Sudan, was intact.
Witnesses who live near the crash site said no one was on the ground where the plane hit, contradicting the presidential spokesman.
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