Small plane crashes after takeoff at London Southend Airport

LONDON AP A small plane crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday at London Southend Airport which was closed until further notice authorities and onlookers noted No information on any casualties was promptly available The plane operated by Zeusch Aviation in the Netherlands had flown from Athens Greece to Pula Croatia on Sunday before heading to Southend It was due to return to Lelystad Netherlands on Sunday evening Zeusch Aviation established its SUZ flight had been involved in an accident and explained the company was supporting the scrutiny Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected its message noted British media revealed the crash involved a Beechcraft B Super King Air equipped with physiological systems for transporting patients It s a turboprop aircraft meters feet long London Southend is a relatively small airport around miles kilometers east of the capital All flights to and from the airport were canceled until further notice while police crisis services and air investigators worked at the scene Images circulated on social media showing a plume of fire and black smoke emanating from the crash site Witness John Johnson who was at the airport with his family mentioned 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 minimal seconds of that happening it more or less inverted and crashed just head-first into the ground he revealed Johnson stated that before the plane got into position for takeoff he and his family waved at the pilots and they all waved back at us Essex Police disclosed it was alerted just before p m to the serious circumstance at the airport Source