Four people have been confirmed to have died after a Beechcraft Super King Air crashed on take-off from the airport shortly before 16:00hrs local time.
The victims are the two Dutch pilots of the aircraft along with two passengers who were on the flight including flight nurse Maria Fernanda Rojaz Ortiz, 31 who was on her first day in the role.
The Super King Air, registration PH-ZAZ had arrived in Southend from Pula, Croatia earlier today and was operating a flight to Lelystad in the Netherlands as SUZ1 when it crashed.
Essex Police confirmed they were called to reports of the crash and attended along with The East of England Ambulance service, Airport Fire and Rescue and Essex County Fire and Rescue.
A spokesperson from the airport said: “We can confirm there has been a serious incident at London Southend Airport this afternoon involving a general aviation aircraft.”
The Super King Air is a twin turboprop aircraft that can seat up to 11 passengers and is popular for corporate and executive travel. The aircraft in question, PH-ZAZ, is a 31 year old aircraft owned and operated by Zeusch Aviation which is based at Lelystad and specialises in Medevac (Medical Evacuation) and charter flights.
According to data from flight tracking website Flightradar24 the aircraft achieved a maximum altitude of just 175ft above ground level before veering off to the left of the runway centreline and impacting the ground just inside the airport boundary.
Esssex Police issued a statement saying: “We remain on the scene of a serious incident at Southend Airport.
“We were alerted shortly before 4pm to reports of a collision involving one 12-metre plane.
“We are working with all emergency services at the scene now and that work will be ongoing for several hours.
“We would please ask the public to avoid this area where possible while this work continues.
“As a precaution due to their proximity to the incident, we are evacuating the Rochford Hundred Golf Club and Westcliff Rugby Club.”
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) have sent a team to the site to begin their investigation.
Discover more from UK Aviation News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
