A plane at a London Airport crashed into what eyewitnesses have described as a ‘huge fireball’ just moments after it took off.
The incident happened on Sunday
The crash took place on Sunday, July 13, when a 12-meter plane taking off from London Southend Airport crashed ‘violently’ at 4pm BST.
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All Monday flights departing from and arriving at the airport following the crash have been ‘rerouted’, according to the airport’s website.
The number of causalities isn’t confirmed yet
The jet, a Beech B200 Super King Air operated by Zeusch Aviation, was captured on camera plummeting into a fireball at the airport.
There hasn’t been confirmation on the number of casualties or how many people were on the jet, per the BBC.
The plane was on its way to the Netherlands
Zeusch Aviation is based at Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands, where the plane is understood to have been heading to.
Witnesses at the site of the crash said that the aircraft seemed to crash ‘head first’ into the ground.
One witness was there with his family to watch the planes
One eyewitness, John Johnson, told the BBC that he had been there with his wife and kids to watch aircraft activity because his sons “are really into planes.”
He said the pilots smiled at his kids
Talking about the moment before his family witnessed the plane crash, Johnson told the outlet that the pilots had smiled at his sons before take-off.
“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,” he recalled.
Johnson described watching the plane plummet
“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,” he said.
“Within a few seconds of that, the aircraft almost inverted and hit the ground. There was a huge fireball,” Johnson, who then called emergency services, added.
Another eyewitness also shared their account
34-year-old father Ben Guppy also told MailOnline that he had witnessed the horrifying moment while plane watching with his family.
“I just looked around like ‘Am I dreaming?’. I turned to my wife Jess, who had her hands over her face. She was pretty much in tears. She’s still pretty upset about it all,” Guppy described, adding that others around them started screaming.
He also noted the aircraft made a sharp turn
Guppy echoed Johnson’s note on how the aircraft took a sharp left turn shortly after take-off. Of the pilot, he said, “He’s banking hard left and then the next thing you know, it’s like another handbrake turn.”
“He went left so violently and I thought ‘What is he doing?’ He was only about 100 meters up by this point. And then he corkscrewed upside down into the floor, the plane was only in the air for seconds.”
Police are working to figure out the cause of the crash
Essex police have since said they’re working with the Air Accident Investigation Branch to determine the cause of the crash, advising the public to stay away from the area for the time being.
According to The Independent, a listing for the Beechcraft King Air B200 aircraft says it can carry 6 passengers and two cabin crew, but casualties have yet to be reported by police.