Air medical plane crash grounds flights at London Southend Airport

London Southend Airport was closed and all flights grounded on Sunday after an air medical plane crashed shortly after takeoff, bursting into flames. Flight Nurse Maria Fernanda Rojas Ortiz, 31, a Dutch pilot and co-pilot, and a European male medical professional were all reportedly killed in the crash.

Southend Airport’s Chief Executive, Jude Winstanley, confirmed the airport would remain closed until further notice. The Civil Aviation Authority has placed an exclusion zone around the crash site to ensure public safety and facilitate the ongoing inquiry. Officers and aviation safety authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the incident.

The Beechcraft B200, operated by Dutch firm Zeusch Aviation, went down just after 16.00 hrs. Witnesses described the aircraft banking sharply to the left moments after takeoff before crashing and erupting into a fireball. Dark smoke was visible from across the area, and emergency services rushed to the scene.

Essex Police confirmed: “We were alerted shortly before 16.00 hrs 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.”

Zeusch Aviation, which specializes in medical evacuation and transplant flights, confirmed that flight SUZ1 was involved in the incident. The company stated: “We are actively supporting the authorities with the investigation… Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected.”

It remains unclear whether the aircraft was conducting a medical evacuation at the time. Flightradar24 tracking showed the aircraft departed Southend at 15.48 hrs, bound for Lelystad, the Netherlands.

Eyewitness John Johnson, who was at the airport with his family, told PA Media: “It took off and about three or four seconds after taking off it started to bank heavily to its left… then more or less inverted and crashed just headfirst into the ground. There was a big fireball.”

Emergency responders included four fire crews, multiple ambulance units, and an air ambulance. Nearby Rochford Hundred Golf Club was evacuated as a precaution.

Southend Airport advised passengers to contact their airlines and said flight operations would resume “as soon as possible”. EasyJet confirmed its services were either diverted or cancelled.