A small plane has ‘nosedived’ and crashed after takeoff from London Southend Airport, exploding into a huge fireball in front of horrified families.
The 40ft-long Beech B200 aircraft was heading from the Essex airport to the Netherlands but reached just 175ft before crashing just yards from the runway.
Footage has been circulating on social media of a black plume of smoke billowing into the sky, with one clip showing passengers boarding another flight close by.
The flight to Lelystad, east of Amsterdam, was scheduled to take off at 3.45pm but took off 10 minutes late, according to Flightradar.
It is unclear how many people were onboard but the twin-engined turboprop plane, believed to be 31 years old, can fit up to 12 passengers and the pilots were seen waving to children as the plane was taxiing.
Essex Police, ambulances and fire engines were all at the scene and the cops have set up a dedicated phone line for information or questions.
Residents are being advised to stay away from the area, which has a wide cordon in place, and several Easyjet flights from Southend have been cancelled.
Families have been left distraught after seeing the traumatising crash, including John Johnson who was at the airport with his family when they saw the plane crash ‘headfirst into the ground’ and explode into a ‘big fireball’.
