A US official told the Reuters news agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the assessment was based on detection of the heat signature of the jet.
It comes as Barack Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the need to contain escalating tensions with Russia over the incident which has triggered a major diplomatic confrontation.
Turkish officials said two Russian planes approached the Turkish border and were warned before one of them was shot down, adding their information shows Turkish airspace was repeatedly violated.
NATO said the incursion into Turkish airspace lasted 17 seconds, but Moscow claims its plane was over Syria when it was hit.
Russia has also claimed one of the aircraft's pilots was killed by gunfire from the ground as he parachuted from the plane.
But a Turkish official has claimed the two pilots are still alive and is working to secure their release from Syrian rebels.
Russia's president Vladimir Putin said the jet "did not in any way threaten Turkey" and the incident will have "serious consequences" for relations between the two countries.
A Russian soldier was also killed while searching for the pilots after his helicopter was shot at in Syria, the Russian military said.
Sky News Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said claims the pilots are still alive "is in direct contradiction with what the Turkish-speaking rebels on the ground have said".
"This may be good news for the families if they have survived - but we have seen published videos of what appears to be the bodies of two different men ... I think the assumption remains (they are dead) and that the Turks might be a little bit behind with their information," he said.
The downing of the jet is the first time a NATO member's armed forces have shot down a Russian or Soviet military aircraft since the 1950s.
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