Southend Airport plane crashes: Pilots 'waved to children' moments before it crashed 'head first into the ground'
The pilots of a small plane that crashed at Southend Airport had waved at children just moments before it crashed, a witness has said.
Essex Police were alerted shortly before 4pm on Sunday to “reports of a collision involving one 12-metre plane” at the airport and remain on the scene of the “serious incident”. Images posted on social media appeared to show a large fireball at the Essex airport before black smoke was spotted coming from the crash site.
The airport announced it is closed until further notice, with all flights to and from it cancelled. The aircraft was reportedly a small Beech B200 aircraft, scheduled to fly to Lelystad in the Netherlands.
John Johnson, who was at Southend Airport with his family at the time of the crash, said he saw a “big fireball” after the plane “crashed head first into the ground”. Mr Johnson, from Billericay, told the PA news agency: “We all waved at the pilots, and they all waved back at us.
“The aircraft then turned 180 degrees to face its take-off, departure, powered up, rolled down the runway. It took off and about three or four seconds after taking off, it started to bank heavily to its left, and then within a few seconds of that happening, it more or less inverted and crashed just head first into the ground."
A bartender at Rochford Hundred Golf Club, which is next door to Southend Airport, said he felt a “big heat wave” before looking up to a “massive fireball” in the sky. East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust said they sent 4 ambulances, a rapid response vehicle, 4 Hazardous Area Response Team vehicles, 3 senior paramedic cars and Essex and Herts Air Ambulance to Southend Airport.
David Burton-Sampson, the MP for Southend West and Leigh, posted on social media: "I am aware of an incident at Southend Airport. Please keep away and allow the emergency services to do their work. My thoughts are with everyone involved."