Plane crashes at Southend Airport

An aircraft has crashed at London Southend Airport.

Essex Police said it was alerted to a 12-metre plane on fire at the site in Southend-on-Sea shortly before 16:00 BST on Sunday.

John Johnson, 40, from Billericay, Essex, was watching planes with his wife and children when he saw a "huge fireball".

The airport said it would be closed until further notice and passengers due to travel tomorrow should contact their airline for information.

The airport added all flights to and from the site had been cancelled.

A spokesperson said: "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."

A family, who waved as the plane took off, said they witnessed a "huge fireball" coming from the site of the incident

Mr Johnson was at the airport with his wife and children to watch aircraft activity as "my sons are really into planes".

His family waved at the pilots of the aircraft before it went down, he said.

"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 told the BBC.

"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.

"Within a few seconds of that, the aircraft almost inverted and hit the ground. There was a huge fireball."

He called 999 to report the incident.

'Running towards it'

The East of England Ambulance Service and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene

James Philpott, a bartender at the Rochford Hundred Golf Club, had been in a hut in the middle of the course when he felt "a big heatwave".

"I looked up and there was a massive fireball, basically," he told the BBC.

"Everyone was just quite shocked… we haven't seen anything like this.

"People were sort of running towards it to see if anyone was injured."

People were evacuated from the course due to its close proximity with the crash, but Mr Philpott said some people remained in the clubhouse as it was further away.

The chairman of Westcliff Rugby Club, which is near Southend Airport, said people at the club did not have to evacuate following the plane crash.

Pete Jones said: "That didn't happen in the end [police] changed their mind.

"We've got a big event there, 250 people, and they just said no, you don't have to evacuate."

Mr Jones said the aircraft went down about 1,000m from the clubhouse and that people there could see smoke in the aftermath.

Essex Police said it was working with the Air Accident Investigation Branch.

Ch Supt Morgan Cronin said: "In these very early stages it is vital we gather the information we need, and continue supporting the people of Essex."

The force asked people to keep its emergency lines open by using its dedicated major incident portal when contacting them about the incident.

Ch Supt Cronin said: "We are working closely with all at the scene, as well as the Air Accident Investigation Branch, to establish what has happened today"

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said it was called to the incident at 15:58 and has asked people to avoid the area if possible.

A spokesperson said: "Crews from Southend (two), Rayleigh Weir and Basildon (two), along with off-road vehicles from Billericay and Chelmsford attended.

"We are continuing to work at the scene with our emergency services and aviation partners."

The East of England Ambulance Service said four ambulances and Essex and Herts Air Ambulance have been sent to the incident

The transport secretary said her "thoughts are with all those involved" in the Southend Airport crash and that she was receiving "regular updates".

In a post on X, Heidi Alexander said: "I'm aware of the tragic incident at Southend Airport this afternoon.

"The emergency services are on scene and are advising the public to avoid the area where possible.

"I am monitoring the situation closely and receiving regular updates."

Earlier in the evening the Labour MP for Southend West and Leigh and the Southend City Council's cabinet member for business, culture, music and tourism, said they had been made aware of the incident.

David Burton-Sampson and Matt Dent posted on X that their thoughts were with those involved and with the emergency services responding to the incident.