Staff Reporter Daily Dawn, Dawn TV Report
London: A small plane crashed after take-off at Southend Airport in the county of Essex, England. No casualties were immediately reported. All flights at the airport have been cancelled after the accident, while rescue operations are ongoing.
A small plane crashed after take-off at Southend Airport, sending a fireball into the sky. Essex Police and the East of England Ambulance Service are continuing rescue operations after the accident at the airport this afternoon.
According to reports, the passenger plane was a B200 that was flying from the airport to Lillesand in the Netherlands.
Essex Police said in a statement: ‘We were called to reports of a 12m aircraft crash shortly before 4pm. We are currently working with all emergency services at the scene and this will continue for several hours. We would ask the public to avoid the area as much as possible while this work is carried out.’
David Burton-Samson, Labour MP for South and West, reacted to the incident by writing on Twitter: ‘I am aware of the incident at South and West Airport. Please stay away and allow the emergency services to carry out their work. My thoughts are with all those involved.’
EasyJet is among the airlines using London South Airport as a base. The airline, which operates 122 flights a week on 20 routes, has cancelled four evening flights to Paris, Alicante, Faro and Palma de Mallorca.
Essex Police have evacuated Rochford Hundred Golf Club and Westcliff Rugby Club following the crash, Essex Police said in a statement on the incident that this was a precautionary measure due to their proximity to the crash site.
Meanwhile, all flights have been cancelled at Southend Airport, according to the departures board.
However, the airport’s arrivals board shows that flights returning to Southend tonight will arrive on time.
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