An aircraft crashed at London Southend Airport on Sunday afternoon, prompting a swift emergency response and widespread disruption.
Gatekeepers News reports that according to Essex Police, they were alerted shortly before 4:00 p.m. (BST) to reports of a 12-metre aircraft engulfed in flames at the airport in Southend-on-Sea.
Airport authorities confirmed a “serious incident” had occurred and said they were cooperating with emergency services and local authorities to manage the situation. Four scheduled outbound flights were cancelled as operations were halted.
John Johnson, a 40-year-old aviation enthusiast from Billericay, Essex, was at the airport with his family when the crash happened. He described seeing a “huge fireball” as the plane went down shortly after takeoff.
He told BBC, “We had just waved at the pilots, and they waved back. “You could see [the pilots] smiling and we all kind of smiled back, the aircraft then turned 180 degrees to face its take off point, powered up its engines and powered past us, carrying on down the runway.”
“It took off in probably three or four seconds. It started to bank heavily to its left.
“I said to my wife, that’s unusual. We don’t find aircraft normally turning at that stage in their ascent.”
“Within a few seconds of that, the aircraft almost inverted and hit the ground. There was a huge fireball.”
Johnson immediately called emergency services to report the crash.
Nearby at Rochford Hundred Golf Club, bartender James Philpot recalled experiencing a blast of heat while in a hut on the course.
He said, “I looked up and there was a massive fireball, basically. Everyone was just quite shocked… we haven’t seen anything like this.”
“People were sort of running towards it to see if anyone was injured. The heat felt like I was baking.”
Golfers were evacuated from parts of the course close to the airport, although some remained in the clubhouse, which was farther away from the scene.
Emergency Services Respond
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said it received the emergency call at 3:58 p.m. and dispatched multiple crews, including units from Southend, Rayleigh Weir, and Basildon, as well as off-road vehicles from Billericay and Chelmsford.
Firefighters remained at the scene late into the evening, coordinating efforts with police and aviation officials.
In a statement, Essex Police urged the public to avoid the area, noting that operations at the site would continue for several hours.
