Southend Airport plane crash: Witnesses tell of moment jet 'violently' smashed to the ground and erupted into a ball of flames - after 'pilots waved to children'
Ben Guppy, 34, had taken his 15-month-old daughter to watch the planes take off and land - but did not expect for a fun day out to turn into a 'nightmare'.
The family from Benfleet, Essex, have often made a trip out of going to the Holiday Inn at the airport, which has a bar and restaurant on the fifth floor with a window to watch the planes.
Just before 4pm yesterday, a 40ft-long Beech B200 aircraft, which is reported to be a medijet with medical equipment onboard, was heading to the Netherlands but reached just 175ft before crashing yards from the runway.
The crowd in the bar began screaming, Mr Guppy said, whose own wife was distraught.
'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,' the wholesale director said.
It is unclear how many people were onboard but the twin-engined turboprop plane, believed to be 31 years old, can fit up to 12 passengers and the pilots were seen waving to children as the plane was taxiing.
One local claimed there was four people on board who all died, however this was unconfirmed, it was reported in The Sun.
The flight to Lelystad, east of Amsterdam, was scheduled to take off at 3.45pm but took off 10 minutes late, according to Flightradar.
The airport is now closed for the foreseeable future and have advised 'any passengers due to travel tomorrow via London Southend Airport contact their airline for information and advice'.
Mr Guppy said he saw the plane reach 'probably 50 metres off the runway' before the plane began tilting left.
He said: 'My daughter was pointing at it and then it listed to the left. The left wing came down, the ring wing came up, I thought "He's keen to go left as soon as he takes off."
'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 metres up by this point.
'And then he corkscrewed upside down into the floor, the plane was only in the air for seconds. I looked at it and the fireball went up, there was fire and smoke everywhere. Luckily my daughter was facing the other way.'
Mr Guppy said they were 'about 500 metres away on the fifth floor, so it's not like we could help. We decided to get our daughter out of there'.
He added: 'Driving home I did have a lump in my throat and goosebumps. Everyone was pulled over at the side of the road watching the smoke.
'On my way back I rang the police and told them what I'd seen. They told me they'd give me a call on Monday.'
Essex Police, ambulances and fire engines were all at the scene and the cops have set up a dedicated phone line for information or questions.
Chief Superintendent Morgan Cronin urged the public to call 0800 0961011, international callers were directed to 0207 1580126 and a Major Incident Public Portal is available.
Residents are being advised to stay away from the area, which has a wide cordon in place, and several Easyjet flights from Southend were cancelled.
Footage of a group of frantic men running across the Rochford Hundred Golf Club, which is next to the airport, towards a huge cloud of smoke was circulating on social media yesterday.
The desperate group appear to be looking for someone who was nearby to the 'fireball' - apparently fearful they'd been caught in the crash.
In clipped breaths one man shouts: 'Oi watch the explosion boys, watch the explosion. What the f***. Someone on the tee, who is it, who's on the tee?'
'Where - where's someone on the floor,' he says dramatically before the video cuts out.
It was reported that the Rochford Hundred Golf Club was evacuated due to its proximity to the explosion as a 'precaution'.
A bartender at the 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.
In a field nearby, children playing on a rugby pitch watched as the plane plunged out of the sky and exploded in a ball of flames.
The youngsters from Leigh Lionesses FC were at the all-girl football club's annual presentation ceremony at Westcliff Rugby Club when the plane crashed a few hundred yards away.
Lauren Dawson who was with her daughter Dixie, 12, said: 'The plane came down behind a line of trees, but a lot of people saw the huge fireball and then the black smoke.
'It looks like the pilot took off, and then had a problem, and came back on himself to try and land back at the airport. But the plane came down behind a line of trees.'
The chairman of Westcliff Rugby Club, which is near Southend Airport, said people at the club did not end up having to evacuate following the plane crash, despite initial reports.
The Zeutch Aviation plane appears to have taken off in a northeasterly direction at about 120mph and reached around 175ft, according to Flightradar, but data indicates it slowed after leaving the ground and turning to the north.
The plane, which is often used for mapping and for medivac journeys, had completed two trips that day, one from Athens in Greece to Pula in Croatia and then from Pula to Southend, landing in the UK at 2.51pm.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague has not been contacted for support, Dutch outlet De Telegraaf reported.
Zeusch Aviation, based at Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands, said: 'We can confirm that Zeusch Aviation flight SUZ1 was involved in an accident today at London Southend Airport.
'We are actively supporting the authorities with the investigation and will provide updates on this page as more information becomes available.
'Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected.'
Footage was circulating on social media of a black plume of smoke billowing into the sky on Sunday, with one clip showing passengers boarding another flight close by.
Flights to and from Southend Airport were cancelled after the crash. Aideen Cowling, 40, also had her 5.30pm flight to Palma de Mallorca cancelled also but had already arrived at the airport with her husband Blair, 44, and sons Shay, six, and Jude, three, for their 10-day holiday when they saw the crash.
Mrs Cowling from Bexley Heath, Kent, said: 'We had just parked in the car park, and had got out when I heard what sounded like seagulls squawking.
'I looked up and I saw this massive orange fireball. I called out to Blair and by the time he looked round, it was just black smoke.
'It didn't sink in that a plane had crashed, and we just carried on into the terminal.'
Mr Cowling added: 'We spoke to some guys in high vis jackets and asked them what was going on. They said that the fire service sometimes held exercises at the airport, and that was probably what it was.
'We then found out from that a plane had come down. It was pretty shocking. We were running a bit late and we were the last people to check in bags for our flight.
'The bags went through, and then they told us that our flight had been cancelled. We had to wait an hour to get our bags back because they had already been taken out on the runway,
'We had to book a new flight. I tried Gatwick and Stansted, but they were fully booked, and eventually we got places on a BA flight out from Heathrow on Monday morning, so we are having to get there and stay in a hotel.'
Iris Sousa, 23, of Lisbon, Portugal, who was flying home after a holiday in the UK was about to pass through airport security when she was told that her easyJet flight to Faro had been cancelled.
She said: 'I got here at about 3.30pm and then at around 4pm. I went upstairs to go through security and they said that nobody could go through because there had been an incident on the airfield.
'Ten minutes later, I received an email from easyJet saying the flight had been cancelled.'
Iris who works as an Airbnb host said easyJet had arranged for her to fly on an alternative flight to Lisbon from Gatwick tomorrow.
She added: 'They are putting me up in a hotel as well. What can you do? We just have to follow directions, and hopefully tomorrow we can travel.'
An airport spokesman said last night: 'Due to a serious incident today at London Southend Airport, we regret to advise that the airport is closed until further notice.
'All flights to and from the airport have been cancelled while police, emergency services and air accident investigators are attending the incident.
'We ask that any passengers due to travel tomorrow (Monday, July 14) via London Southend Airport contact their airline for information and advice.
'Our thoughts are with those affected by today's events and all passengers impacted by this disruption.
'We will restart flight operations as soon as possible and will continue to update the public on developments.'
Families have been left distraught after seeing the traumatising crash, including John Johnson who was at the airport with his family when they saw the plane crash 'headfirst into the ground' and explode into a 'big fireball'.
The father said: 'We all waved at the pilots, and they all waved back at us. 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.'
Mr Guppy rubbished accounts online suggesting the Beech B200 had hit another plane on the runway.
He said: 'About 20 minutes before the crash a little Cessna landed and was having issues. The fire brigade went out and took the plane away.
'People were saying the jet hit that plane on the runway but that's completely untrue.
'It was perfect visibility and my eyesight's pretty good, and I didn't see anything. The plane just listed left and then kept going left until it crashed.'
Essex Police's Chief Superintendent Morgan Cronin said: 'In these very early stages it is vital we gather the information we need, and continue supporting the people of Essex.
'Please help us keep our emergency lines open by using these specific channels if you're contacting us about this incident.'
She added: 'We are working closely with all at the scene, as well as the Air Accident Investigation Branch, to establish what has happened today and why.
'I fully appreciate the desire for more information in this matter, and we will share as much as we can, when we can, throughout our work.
'But it is vital for all involved that this investigation is carried out thoroughly and correctly, and to do that we will all need time.'
The Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said her 'thoughts are with all those involved', adding that she is 'monitoring the situation closely and receiving regular updates'.
MP David Burton-Sampson asked locals to 'please keep away and allow the emergency services to do their work' and said his 'thoughts are with everyone involved'.
Councillor Matt Dent said: 'My thoughts are with all those involved, and with the emergency services currently responding to the incident.'
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