Southend Airport crash witness says jet ‘corkscrewed upside down’

A small plane that crashed at London Southend Airport ‘corkscrewed upside down’ before dramatically exploding into a fireball on impact, a witness has claimed. 

The international airport, near Southend–on–Sea in Essex, has been forced to cancel all flights and close ‘until further notice’ after Zeusch Aviation Flight SUZ1 crashed after take–off just before 4pm on Sunday.

Essex Police said they were alerted to ‘reports of a collision involving one 12–metre plane’ at the airport, calling it a ‘serious incident’, although there has been no confirmation of the number of casualties.

Footage on social media shows a plume of fire and black smoke billowing into the air from the crash site, while witnesses described seeing the Beech B200 Super King Air erupt into a ‘fireball’. 

Ben Guppy, 34, who had taken his 15–month–old daughter to the fifth floor of a nearby Holiday Inn hotel to watch the planes take off and land, told MailOnline he saw the plane reach ‘probably 50 metres off the runway’ before it began tilting left.

Describing the moment of impact, the wholesale director explained: ‘My daughter was pointing at it and then it lifted 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.’

A plane ‘corkscrewing’ refers to the moment an aircraft rapidly spirals to towards the ground.

The frantic moment a group of golfers, playing at the nearby Rochford Hundred Golf Club, rushed to the burning wreckage was also caught on camera.

Zeusch Aviation, based at Lelystad Airport in The Netherlands, confirmed its SUZ1 flight had been ‘involved in an accident’ at Southend Airport.

The statement said the company was ‘actively supporting the authorities with the investigation’, adding: ‘Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected.’

Zeusch Aviation’s website says the plane can be used for medical flights to transport patients or organs. It has also been deployed for aerial mapping flights.

The plane had flown from the Greek capital Athens to Pula in Croatia on Sunday before heading to Southend. It was scheduled to return to Lelystad on Sunday night.

The airport announced on Sunday night it was closed until further notice, with all arriving and departing flights cancelled. It will remain closed today.

There were scheduled to be 20 easyJet flights and two Eastern Airways flights departing from or arriving at the airport on Monday.

Southend Airport 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.’

EasyJet said the company’s remaining flights to and from the airport had been ‘diverted to alternative airports or are no longer able to operate’.

Witnesses have told of the terrifying moment the plane crashed into a fireball as they watched on in horror. 

Mr Guppy and his 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.

The crowd in the bar began screaming, he recalled, while his own wife was distraught.

The father told MailOnline: ‘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.’

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.’

John Johnson, who was at the airport with his children and wife on Sunday, said they saw a ‘big fireball’ after the plane crashed ‘head first into the ground’.

Mr Johnson, from Billericay, told the PA news agency: ‘We all waved at the pilots, and they all waved back at us.

‘The aircraft then turned 180 degrees to face its take–off, departure, powered up, rolled down the runway.

‘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.

‘There was a big fireball. Obviously, everybody was in shock in terms of witnessing it.’

He said he felt ‘shaken up’ and his thoughts were with the people on the plane and their loved ones.

As a precaution, because of their proximity to the incident, police said they were evacuating the Rochford Hundred Golf Club and Westcliff Rugby Club but rugby club chairman Pete Jones said it had not been necessary.

A bartender at the golf club, which is next door to the airport, said he felt a ‘big heat wave’ before looking up to a ‘massive fireball’ in the sky.

James Philpott told the BBC: ‘I was just basically in a hut like in the middle of the course and I didn’t even see any plane go down or anything and I just felt like a big heat wave come through and I looked up and there was just a massive fireball basically 100 foot in the sky.

‘It was more the heat really just kind of hit me as I was sitting there, just like, feel like I’m baking.’

He continued: ‘I think everyone was just quite shocked to be honest.

‘People were sort of running towards it to see if anyone was injured or anything.’

In a post on X, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander described the incident as ‘tragic’, adding that her ‘thoughts are with all those involved’ and that she was ‘monitoring the situation and closely receiving regular updates’.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said crews from Southend, Rayleigh Weir and Basildon, along with off road vehicles from Billericay and Chelmsford attended the incident.

Four ambulances, a rapid response vehicle, four hazardous area response team vehicles, three senior paramedic cars and Essex and Herts Air Ambulance were also sent to the scene, the East of England Ambulance Service said.

Posting on X, David Burton–Sampson, Labour MP for Southend West and Leigh, said: ‘I am aware of an incident at Southend Airport.

‘Please keep away and allow the emergency services to do their work.

‘My thoughts are with everyone involved.’

Southend Airport said the incident involved a ‘general aviation aircraft’ and the airport was ‘working closely with the local authorities’.

Essex Police have set up a dedicated public portal where people can contact them about the crash at: https://esxpol.uk/LIbaz.