Medical evacuation plane crashes in flames at UK airport

The twin-engine Beechcraft King Air B200 crashed seconds after take-off at Southend airport in Essex; it’s not known if any patients were on board.

The plane crashed seconds after take off at Southend airport in Essex. Picture: X.

A medical transport aircraft has crashed in the UK just seconds after leaving the runway at Southend airport in Essex.

The twin-engine Beechcraft King Air B200 was returning to Lelystad in the Netherlands, where it is based, The London Times reports. It had flown from Pula, Croatia, to Southend on Sunday morning. It is not known if there were any patients on board when it crashed.

It was equipped with medical systems for transporting patients and was operated by Zeusch Aviation, a Dutch company that specialises in medical evacuation services and transplant flights as well as private charters.

A passenger plane has crashed shortly after takeoff from London Southend Airport in Essex, erupting into a massive fireball.

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In a statement on social media, the airport confirmed a “serious incident” involving what it termed a general aviation aircraft.

Images posted on social media show a plume of fire and black smoke emanating from the crash site. The plane involved is said to be 12 meters long.

Witness John Johnson, who was at the airport with his family, said he saw a “big fireball” after the plane “crashed head first into the ground.”

“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," he said. “There was a big fireball."

Mr Johnson said that before the plane got into position for take-off, he and his family waved at the pilots and “they all waved back at us.” After the crash, Mr Johnson said the airport’s fire service responded straight away, with two fire engines sent to the crash site, followed by local police, ambulance and fire services.

Essex Police said it was alerted just before 4pm local time to the “serious incident" at the relatively small airport, which is around 72km east of the capital.

“We are working with all emergency services at the scene now and that work will be ongoing for several hours," Essex Police said.

As a precaution due to their proximity to the incident, police evacuated a local golf club and rugby club.

The local member of parliament, David Burton-Sampson, urged people to stay away and let the emergency services do their work.

“My thoughts are with everyone involved," he said.

According to the airport’s website, four flights scheduled to take off on Sunday afternoon were cancelled.